Act on level crossings

RMT called for the elimination of level crossings on high- speed rail lines following the fatal derailment of a high- speed train at Ufton Nervet near Reading that killed seven people and injured many others earlier this month. The high-speed London to Plymouth train was derailed after hitting a car deliberately parked across the automatic half-barrier level crossing. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that the terrible tragedy highlighted a growing problem that RMT has long been calling for action on, for the sake of railway workers, rail passengers and road users alike. The union has called for the industry to begin a programme to eliminate level crossings from high-speed railway lines, replacing them with underpasses or bridges, and for a feasibility study on the rest with the aim of removing all level crossings from Britain’s rail network. “Level crossings are a 19th-century solution, and in 21st-century Britain – roads and railways should not have to cross each other’s paths. “And we are not the only ones to have recognised it, for just two months ago Her Majesty’s Railways Inspectorate (HMRI) – the body charged with overseeing the safety of our railways –identified level crossings as the single biggest danger on today’s railway network,” he said. The Inspectorate said that there had been 18 deaths on the country’s 8,000 level crossings in the last year and many more incidents. The figures did not include incidents involving objects left on the track or the number of animals which have strayed on to the line and been killed by trains. HMRI has made no proposals for dealing with the problem but, in the light of the Berkshire rail crash, RMT called for a ten- year programme to replace all 1,700 ‘active’ crossings – the ones where the railway interfaces with roads. Network Rail estimates that the cost works out at an average of £1 million each crossing, or around half the cost of an average mile of motorway. Therefore the programme would cost about £200 million a year. The private sector has dismissed such calls as too expensive. However, the union pointed out that private-sector operators have pocketed well over £14 billion in profits since privatisation – more than enough to replace every level crossing in Britain with a few of billion left over. RMT news – Essential reading for today ’s transport worker RMT calls for action after Ufton disaster Victory at Vinci Park TRAFFIC wardens working for Vinci Park in Bromley, south London, have won the right to take their breaks in safety. The company withdrew its instruction to parking attendants not to return to their depot for breaks after RMT members returned a second 100 per cent vote for strike action. “This is a victory for common sense and the right for our members’ safety to be put ahead of Vinci Park’s profits,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said. “Although few in number, our members maintained 100 per cent solidarity and refused to allow their safety to be compromised for the sake of their employer’s bank balance. “In the end strike action proved unnecessary, but by twice voting unanimously to strike our members have once again demonstrated the truth of the trade union principle that unity is strength,” Bob Crow said. RMT members at Vinci Park twice voted unanimously for action to retain their right to take their breaks in relative safety after their long-standing right to return to the depot for breaks was ended without consultation by the company. The second ballot became necessary after strike action scheduled for October 2 was suspended to enable talks to take place and the company refused to agree an extension of the deadline for industrial action. GOVERNMENT statistics have revealed that the decline in use of deregulated bus services outside London has accelerated. Statistics on bus passenger journeys issued by the Department of Transport show that in 2003/4 bus use in England outside London declined by 2.8 per cent whereas bus use in the more regulated London area rose by 10.4 per cent. The government’s target for local public transport is that by 2010 the use of bus and light rail service should increase by more than 12 per cent in England compared with 2000 levels, with growth in every region. Pteg chairman Kieran Preston, speaking on behalf of the seven Passenger Transport Executives, said that the biggest problem was that PTEs and local authorities outside London have few controls over fares, networks or service quality. “We can’t offer the public the single, integrated, high quality public transport networks that would stem the decline in bus use, because bus services are, in effect, a free-for-all. “With the bus network in the capital going from strength to strength – the contrast between regulated London and the deregulated regions, has never been more stark,” he said. Pteg represents Passenger Transport Executives that are responsible for local transport services in Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Strathclyde, Tyne & Wear, West Midlands and West Yorkshire. Transport Secretary Alistair Darling ruled out bringing in more regulation on failing services and insisted that local bus services will continue to run on a purely commercial basis. Bus use in decline outside the capital 6 CROSSING: Crash site at Ufton Nervet in Berkshire where seven people lost their lives