Dejected Railtrack investors vote for winding-up

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The ghost of Railtrack was finally laid to rest yesterday, to the anger of private shareholders who accused the company of a "cop-out".

An extraordinary general meeting held at Wembley conference centre approved a "members' resolution", recommended by the board, to voluntarily wind up the company. That was not before the board and shareholders lambasted the Government again for its handling of Railtrack. It is believed to be the largest such liquidation in this country.

The chairman, Geoffrey Howe, said: "The decision made by HM Government to put Railtrack into administration was ill-judged and unnecessary. This is not just because in our opinion Railtrack was not insolvent but also because the process of administration has inevitably caused significant additional costs to the railway and delayed by at least a year the steps necessary to get to grips with the problems."

About 350 dejected shareholders made the trip to north-west London, though the outcome was never in doubt. "This situation is a lot better than it looked a year ago when Mr Byers [Stephen Byers, then Secretary of State for Transport] tried to push this company over the edge," said David Harding, chief executive. Mr Harding resigned as a company director after the EGM – along with Mr Howe, and all but two of the eight-strong board.

Shareholders are likely to receive between 252p and 260p a share, by the end of next year, under a deal agreed with the Government in March. Railtrack shares were suspended last October at 280p, when the company was forced into administration.

The company pointed out that shareholders would get back 90 per cent of the share price at suspension, while the FTSE 100 index has fallen 25 per cent over that period. However, that argument did not appear to convince many of those attending the meeting. Howard Crabtree said: "I consider the money I invested in Railtrack was stolen from me."

Alan Reynolds, a member of the Railtrack Private Shareholders Action Group, said afterwards: "This is a cop-out. They [Railtrack directors] want to get it over quickly so they can carry on with their careers. The Government has bought back the railways on the cheap."

The action group is seeking to raise £2m from shareholders to take the Government to court.

Railtrack warned them they were wasting their time. Mr Howe said: "Whilst our view was that there was a clear basis for making a claim against HM Government ... even if liability could be established the possibility of a court awarding damages materially in excess of the package provided by Government is remote".