Railtrack, which owns and runs Britain's railway lines, may face prosecution for the poor condition of its tracks.

A leaked letter from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) warns the company about "the persistent poor condition of the tracks".

Railtrack is already facing prosecution

Safety inspectors told Railtrack in the letter that they are concerned about the state of track nation-wide, after a series of derailments involving passenger and freight trains.

In January alone, trains were derailed on two occasions, and the inspectors wrote that in some cases the line was in "such an extremely bad condition as to be unsafe".

The letter goes on to say that it cannot tolerate track which "in the judgement of our inspectors is not being maintained in a condition so as to reduce the risk of railway passengers and employees so far as is reasonably practicable."

The company, which inherited British Rail's track and signalling nearly four years ago, is already facing prosecution over track condition at an accident in Bexley, in February 1997, when four members of the public were injured.

The HSE says more prosecutions over other derailments could follow.

Brian Mellitt from Railtrack told BBC1's Six O'Clock News that Railtrack is working on improvements (0' 16")

Railtrack says it is already doing what it can to improve the company's safety record.

But the HSE says that excuses for not properly maintaining standards will no longer be tolerated.
 

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