Outrage at rail safety U-turn
By Daphne Liddle
Britain's deputy prime minister John Prescott is facing a public outcry after backing down on his pledge, made in the wake of the Paddington rail disaster, to remove the responsibility for rail safety from the privatised Railtrack and hand it to an independent body.
His announcement came at the end of a government rail safety review which began in October after the crash that killed 31 people. The Department of Transport review recommended that Railtrack should be stripped of its responsibility for ensuring the private rail operating companies are safe to operate.
Prescott accepted this and said he would end "Railtrack's dominance" of the industry's safety agenda by removing its responsibility for setting and enforcing security standards, which would pass to the Department of Transport.
But Prescott has decided to allow Railtrack to keep overall responsibility for setting safety standards and carrying out audits. Railtrack's Safety and Standards Directorate will be set up as a Railtrack subsidiary company, Railway Safety Limited, rather than removing it entirely from Railtrack control.
Families of those killed in the Paddington crash are horrified. Solicitor Louise Christian, speaking on behalf of the bereaved families, said, "They are concerned there remains a conflict of interest in any company associated with Railtrack retaining a responsibility for safety.
"A subsidiary company will still be part of the profit structure and will be under the same pressure to put profits before safety."
Prescott has also decided against requiring the rail companies to fit the expensive but fail-safe Automatic Train Protection system, which would prevent trains going through red lights, in favour of a cheaper system.
[From the e-mail list, <marxist-leninist-list@lists.econ.utah.edu>.]