DON’T drag British railways back to the dark days of the Hatfield disaster by privatising Network Rail, Labour MPs told the government yesterday.

The Star revealed on Saturday that Tory Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin was liaising with bankers to discuss a break-up of the nationalised rail maintenance body.

Now shadow transport secretary Lilian Greenwood has demanded assurances that will not initiate an “unneeded, unwanted and dangerous” sell-off.