UNLEARNED LESSONS OF LADBROKE GROVE

RMTnews :: april 2007 :: www.rmt.org.uk 6 K ey lessons from the 1999 Ladbroke Grove tragedy have not been learned, RMT said after a £4 million fine was handed down to Network Rail for Railtrack’s role in the crash which left 31 people dead and 400 injured. Privatisation, fragmentation, the absence of train protection and the lack of corporate accountability were at the heart of the Ladbroke Grove tragedy, and each problem remained to be dealt with, RMT general secretary Bob Crow said. “It is only right that the survivors and the families of those killed have heard the catalogue of failings that led to the disaster aired in court, but it was the wrong people in front of the judge. “The Railtrack executives whose negligence led to the Ladbroke Grove crash walked quietly away a long time ago. “Until we have an effective corporate manslaughter law that puts bosses whose negligence leads to unnecessary death and injury in the dock and facing the prospect of prison, justice will not be done, no matter how big the fines,” Bob said. After Clapham in 1988, automatic train protection was promised which would have prevented Ladbroke Grove and saved 31 lives, but it is still no nearer to being fitted because it is deemed too expensive. The Cullen inquiry into Ladbroke Grove also insisted that the regulation of rail safety should be in independent hands, but that process has been thrown into reverse and key safety areas have been handed back to the commercial interests that put profit first. Cullen also pointed to the crucial role played by the guard in the aftermath of Ladbroke Grove, but South West Trains is planning to do away with guards on busy commuter lines in and out of London. Sack South West Trains to stop the big squeeze Rail passengers and workers on South West Trains are set to become the latest victims of the great railway squeeze as the privateer’s new franchise gets under way, RMT has warned. Private operator Stagecoach will have to squeeze more cash out of rail passengers and literally squeeze ever more people onto its trains if it is to meet franchise payments and satisfy its own shareholders’ demands for profits. SWT has already been ripping seats and toilets out to squeeze more passengers on, and those lucky enough to get a seat are likely to be jammed five abreast in suburban trains unsuited to longer journeys. At the same time, passengers are suffering inflation-busting fare increases every year and SWT wants to remove the guard’s responsibility for opening doors to pave the way for removing more staff. The £1.3 billion GNER franchise was a spectacular failure and First Great Western had to apologise for provoking its passengers into open revolt, yet the government is sticking to a franchising system that has failed by every measure. Now SWT is expected to cough up more than £1.5 billion in premiums over the next decade – and Stagecoach’s shareholders also expect to squeeze up to £200 million in profits out of it. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said that it means passengers are being squeezed ever harder and staff at the sharp end suffering more and more from stress, abuse and assaults. “The economy and the environment both demand a transport policy that encourages people out of their cars and onto trains, but the only way to achieve that is to create more rail capacity, not cattle trucks,” Bob Crow said. CRASH: Following health and safety blunders by privateers Railtrack, the First Great Western Trains' 6.30am Cheltenham Flyer crashed into a Thames Trains local service, which left 31 dead and 400 injured in 1999. UNLEARNED LESSONS OF LADBROKE GROVE