Travelling man: Byers

The Railtrack row over who said what and when in the run up to the company being put in administration has continued with Stephen Byers latest account being disputed.

Railtrack chairman John Robinson has claimed he has "a different recollection" of a meeting between himself and the transport secretary.

Byers yesterday told MPs that Railtrack had demanded money from the government claiming in July it would not be a going concern by November 8 if ministers refused to bail the company out.

Robinson says he will submit his notes from the meeting to an inquiry by the Financial Services Authority and denied making such a claim to the transport secretary. He also accused the government of trying to shift attention away from the government.

"What I am saying is that it was a wide-ranging discussion about how Railtrack was going to go ahead. I did not say that to Mr Byers...I am saying that my recollection is totally different," he said.

"That was not what was said at that meeting with Mr Byers. At that meeting with Mr Byers, this was the start of an exercise. There were no financial figures on the table, we were not talking about financial figures," Robinson claimed.

Shadow transport secretary Theresa May called on Byers to go public with his notes on the conversation.

"John Robinson's claim that Stephen Byers' account to the House of Commons was inaccurate is extremely worrying and further undermines the credibility of the government. I call upon Mr Byers to publish the minutes of the meeting between himself and Railtrack. This episode further reinforces the need for an independent inquiry into the government's handling of this affair.''

Byers stood by his statement as the true version of events as he arrived in Birmingham to make a speech at the CBI national conference.

"I made two statements to the House of Commons on October 15 and one yesterday where I set out factually what did happen. I saw John Robinson on July 25. At that meeting he told me that unless there was additional government money he would not be able to make a going concern statement on October 8. That is what happened.

"As a result we entered into discussions with Railtrack and on October 5 I decided no more government money would be made available. As a result Railtrack went into administration. Those are the facts of the case and I hope people will recognise that is so and we can now move on," said Byers.

The prime minister Tony Blair gave his backing to the transport secretary's version of events. The fact Robinson had sought government help in July suggested he was aware of the magnitude of the problems, said his official spokesman.

"John Robinson is entitled to his recollection of that meeting," he said. "But I think it is pretty obvious in that the Railtrack chairman came to him... This was apparent to the company in the first instance."