Rail safety deadline set

Thirty-one people died in the Paddington rail crash

An advanced automatic system to stop high speed trains going past red signals must be implemented by 2008, a report into rail safety has recommended.

The report of the joint inquiry into the Ladbroke Grove and Southall rail accidents, published on Thursday, has made a series of proposals designed to prevent such disasters happening again.

Both crashes occurred after drivers went through red lights, known in the rail industry as signals passed at danger (SPADs).

Lord Cullen: Setting tough deadlines

The inquiry led by Lord Cullen and Professor John Uff proposed a "tight timetable" to bring in the sophisticated and expensive European Train Control System (ETCS) on high speed lines.

But in the meantime, the industry should continue to install the "far from ideal" Train Protection Warning System (TPWS), which is less effective over 74mph, said the report.

The tough measures were to ensure train protection was not pushed under the carpet, and tackle fears that the work may never happen because of the cost.

Earlier, a separate report from a committee of MPs said Railtrack's record on safety, maintenance and renewal was so poor that the government should seriously consider re-nationalisation.

Lord Cullen and Prof Uff said their recommendations should be implemented by regulations and the Health and Safety Commission was drawing up an action plan to see that the measures are put into practice.

"A signal passed at danger creates the risk for another catastrophic accident," Prof Uff said.

Figures released on Thursday revealed 42 SPAD incidents in February, 21 of which had been passed at danger on previous occasions.

Thirty-one people died in the Ladbroke Grove crash, when a Great Western express hit a Thames commuter train which had gone past a red signal.

Following this disaster, and a similar one at nearby Southall two years earlier in which seven people died, Lord Cullen and Prof Uff launched the joint inquiry into train protection.

Cost warning

Railtrack has promised to install TPWS by the beginning of 2003.

Both TPWS and ETCS come under the blanket term of Automatic Train Protection (ATP), which describes any system that automatically stops a train as well as alerting the driver.

Rail companies have warned it could take up to 20 years to fit ETCS nationwide and cost up to £3bn.

No-one should underestimate the substantial challenge for all parts of the rail industry

Bill Callaghan
HSC

But the Health and Safety Commission, which supports the report's recommendations, said it wanted the measures brought in quickly and would carry out a progress check in September.

The government has said money was no object and the report's authors said "economic justification" was not part of their considerations.

The report recommended that all lines carrying trains above 100mph were fitted with ETCS by 2008.

Also, no train travelling at more than 100mph should be in service after 2010 unless it is protected by ETCS.

Survivors' concern

The report also said routes with line speeds of between 60mph and 100mph should be assessed to see if ETCS ought to be fitted.

But train accident survivors and relatives of victims voiced concern that rail companies would "find excuses" not to implement the recommendations.

Colin Paton, the guard on one of the trains in the Ladbroke Grove crash, said: "They won't do it until somebody makes them do it... the measures aren't strong enough."

Welcoming the report, Health and Safety Commission chairman Bill Callaghan said: "No-one should underestimate the substantial challenge for all parts of the rail industry.

"This involves not just installing the most modern automatic train protection systems on a busy network, but continued vigilance by railway management and staff and delivery, day after day, of high standards of safety performance."