GREATER Manchester transport bosses have welcomed the Government's decision to put Railtrack into liquidation.

The new organisation set up to run the railways will be financed by government subsidies and charging rail operators to use the tracks, with profits being reinvested in the network.

And members of Greater Manchester Transport Authority hope it will mean better progress on the upgrade of the West Coast mainline and the modernisation of Piccadilly and Stockport rail stations. Authority chairman Cllr Roger Jones said: "We welcome the fact that Government have intervened to safeguard the future of vital investment in the rail network."