Rail travellers in Oxfordshire have been assured they will face no disruption after the Government took control of Railtrack.

At a special High Court hearing yesterday Mr Justice Gavin Lightman granted an order placing Railtrack in the hands of Government-appointed administrators, who will run the railways.

Lawyers representing Transport Secretary Stephen Byers said Railtrack had asked for extra funding of £700m by December, rising to £1.7bn by next March.

Mr Byers turned down the request and sought the administration order.

He said: "For Railtrack, there will be no bail-out, no last-minute rescue deal paid for by the taxpayer. Our action will see the end of Railtrack. In my judgement, the time had come to take back the track and put the interests of the travelling public first."

Railtrack said it had not been in a position to oppose Mr Byers' petition, given that no more Government money was forthcoming.

A Railtrack spokesman said all Oxfordshire's stations were leased out to train operators and were not run by Railtrack.

She said very few of the company's 11,000 staff were based in the county. Most local staff are signallers.

"I cannot stress enough that this will not affect services. Travellers will notice no difference," she said.

Administrators Ernst and Young will now take over the running of Railtrack, which has responsibility for track, signalling and stations.

Railtrack shares will be suspended, with the administrators having to decide how much money more than a quarter of a million investors will get in a company whose share price has plunged from a high of more than £17 to a low last week of around £2.80.

A private company is expected to take over its assets. Its profits will be put back into the rail network.

The Government said it would stand by its commitment to provide £30bn for the railways in the next ten years.