Quality of life and business success are under threat if the rail crisis is not solved soon, an MP has warned.

Keighley Labour MP Ann Cryer told the House of Commons that delays in travel times to London were threatening the Northern business boom.

And it was having a huge impact on family lives as late trains meant people spending less time at home.

She said: "Business in West Yorkshire has achieved so much in the past few years competing with London firms.

"Much of that success has depended on the ability of businesses in the north having the facility to meet clients and potential clients in the capital and return to their base in a day. This is now rarely possible. If the present crisis continues, there could be a long term price to pay not only in respect of the well-being of northern businesses, but in terms of quality of life throughout the country."

She said on Sunday a journey she took from Leeds to Kings Cross took more than five hours. If the situation did not improve soon, then the Government should consider buying back parts of the industry, she added.

Michael Parkinson, President of Airedale Springs at Haworth, who fought to set up the Skipton-Keighley-Kings Cross service last year - it has been withdrawn for the winter - agreed that business prosperity in the area was under threat.

Speaking from Leeds, where he was about to board the train to London yesterday, he said he had experienced similar delays.

"But we must make a clear distinction between the way GNER, the operating company, are dealing with the situation - I have been very impressed with them - and Railtrack, the company running the infrastructure.

"The state of the infrastructure is appalling. Nobody can kid me that Railtrack didn't know the state of the track before the Hatfield disaster."

Judith Donovan, of Bradford Chamber of Commerce, said problems on the rail network caused frustration for commuters on the railways and roads, and companies were also experiencing delays in receiving correspondence.

The Government has threatened to order a takeover of Railtrack operations by the Strategic Rail Authority if the company's recovery plan is not working by the end of January.

It will use new powers in the Transport Act, which come into force in February, to instruct the SRA to produce its own recovery strategy.