Fears over delay in fitting train safety system
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Your support makes all the difference.Britain's safety chief said yesterday he was very concerned about delays in implementing a system for stopping trains passing red signals.
Bill Callaghan, chairman of the Health and Safety Commission (HSC), told The Independent he was "impatient about the slow progress'' towards introducing the automatic train protection (ATP) system, which would have prevented the Paddington and Southall disasters, in which 38 people died. His remarks preceded a critical meeting of the HSC today that will warn ministers of growing public concern over the industry's commitment to improving safety.
Railtrack's successor, Network Rail, said meanwhile that it was taking over direct responsibility for maintenance in a busy commuter area from the financially troubled company Amey. The move was welcomed by unions and passenger groups. Amey will lose the £50m-a-year contract for the Reading area, including services out of London Paddington, which it has held since privatisation in 1994.
It also emerged yesterday that train delays have worsened since the handover to Network Rail. John Armitt, chief executive of Network Rail, said delays this year were likely to exceed the 13.5 million minutes lost the year before. The company set itself a target of cutting delays by 15-20 per cent. But with two months of the year left, Mr Armitt said delays would be the same or 1-2 per cent worse. He said Network Rail had been doing better but was set back by storms, floods, and the recent cold snap.
On the issue of train protection, Mr Callaghan said independent studies for the HSC showed there was a serious "safety gap", requiring equipment that stops signals being passed at danger. One report, by the National Economic Research Associates, said a review – by Railway Safety, responsible for day-to-day standards, and the Strategic Rail Authority – had "many weaknesses and seriously over or understates'' several key arguments. The review did not "enhance the trust which the industry needs to develop with its stakeholders'', it said.
While the public inquiry by Professor John Uff and Lord Cullen recommended that the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) – a form of ATP – should be installed by 2010 on high-speed lines, the industry review said it was not possible to fit it until 2015. Most high-speed lines in Europe are covered by one form of ATP or another.
The report asserts that the industry overestimated the cut in capacity and its impact on casualties in other forms of transport. The economists say the industry also overestimated the price of introducing ERTMS by building in unnecessarily high labour costs.
Mr Callaghan expressed concern that the installation of automatic train protection might be further delayed as memories of Paddington and Southall faded. A compromise – the train protection and warning system, which will be introduced this year – is not fully effective when trains travel at more than 75mph.
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