National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers (RMT)

Reuters: Feb 28
By Allan Dowd

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - A fight is brewing between unions over who should represent train crews at Canadian National Railway, just as workers vote on the tentative contract deal that ended a two-week strike.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference was expected to file an application with regulators on Thursday to allow workers now represented by the United Transportation Union to switch unions, the conference's president, D.J. Shewchuck, said.

Shewchuck said 65 percent of the 2,800 UTU members at Canadian National have signed applications asking for the vote. The Teamsters already represent CN's locomotive engineers and train crews at Canadian Pacific Railway.

The strike split the UTU, with its international president sacking the original Canadian negotiating team and accusing them of launching an unauthorized walkout on Feb. 10 in a bid to switch workers to the Teamsters union.

The fight within the UTU complicated the negotiations with CN. The government was preparing to intervene when the tentative agreement was announced on Saturday. The back-to-work legislation is on hold pending the ratification vote.

The contract ratification vote is being conducted by mail and the results are not expected until March 26.

The UTU negotiators who reached the tentative one-year agreement with CN have acknowledged it did not deal with many of the issues raised by workers before the strike, but said it was needed to avoid a government-mandated contract.

The previous contract for the workers, who are employed as conductors and switch yard crews, had expired at the end of 2006 and they were pressing for higher wages and work rule changes.

The union has urged members to approve the contract, saying the deal will allow it to regroup and resolve internal disputes before resuming talks with Canadian National on a new long-term agreement.

The head of the negotiating team replaced by the UTU's international leadership has urged the workers to reject the contract and sign up with the Teamsters.

Shewchuck said the Teamsters union was not taking a position on whether the UTU members should vote in favor or against the deal, which includes a 3 percent wage hike.

A spokesman for the UTU declined comment on the Teamsters' plan to file with the Canada Industrial Relations Board to force a representation vote.

The two unions have clashed in the past in both Canada and the United States.

Other unions could also become involved. The Canadian Auto Workers, Canada's largest private-sector union, has aided the negotiating team sacked by the UTU's international president, and the UTU last year signed a co-operation agreement with the United Steelworkers.

Both the CAW and Steelworkers also represent workers at Canadian National.

Posted on 11:45 PM | Permalink

RMT: February 27 2007

Assistant Deputy Coroner Mr Justice Sullivan adjourned the inquest into the 2002 Potters Bar rail crash today and echoed RMT calls for a public inquiry encompassing last week’s Grayrigg rail crash.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow welcomed Justice Sullivan's call following the interim report into the fatal Cumbria train derailment, which was caused by faulty points.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow has already written to Secretary of State for Transport Douglas Alexander calling for such an inquiry due to the frightening similarities between Grayrigg and the Potters Bar crash in 2002.

"I will be writing to the secretary of state again today to demand a joint public inquiry into Potter's Bar and Grayrigg as internal industry enquiries have clearly proved insufficient to stop a repeat of that tragedy.

"We need to get all the facts out into the open. Nothing less than a full public inquiry will do," Bob Crow added.

"Any public inquiry, in addition to establishing the facts of the accident, should also examine the adequacy of Network Rail's management systems because of the fragmentation of engineering work that still afflicts our railways," he said.

"I am extremely concerned that there are over 90,000 track workers employed by a staggering 1,256 different organisations including contractors and sub-contractors let loose on the tracks under Network Rail and this should form part of the remit for inquiry," he said.

RMT also maintains that any inquiry should examine the benefits of drawing all railway activity under the control of one organisation to ensure the safety of the travelling public and rail workers.

Posted on 10:32 AM | Permalink

TUC: 27 February 2007

The TUC has welcomed today's decision by the European Court of Human Rights that unions can expel members of the far-right BNP, and that this is not incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case was brought by traindrivers' union ASLEF, after the UK courts found in favour of a BNP member expelled from the union because of the incompatibility of BNP views and those of the trade union movement.

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said, 'This is an important and welcome judgement. The European Court of Human Rights has made the common sense decision that the right to freedom of association does not force unions to accept into membership people opposed to the basic principles of trade unionism. Instead it says that the European Convention's provisions protect unions from excessive interference by government in deciding how they run their own affairs, including how they choose their members.

'We will need to discuss further all the implications of this judgement, including what changes now need to be made to UK law, but every union will welcome this clear decision that they can now expel BNP members.'

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk

- Register for the TUC's press extranet : a service exclusive to journalists wanting to access pre-embargo releases and reports from the TUC. Visit www.tuc.org.uk/pressextranet

Contacts:

Media enquiries: Tim Lezard T: 020 7467 1248; E: tlezard@tuc.org.uk

Liz Chinchen T: 020 7467 1248; M: 07778 158175; E: media@tuc.org.uk

Posted on 09:40 AM | Permalink

The Guardian: February 26, 2007
Louise Christian

The Cumbria crash makes all the more urgent the need for a public inquiry into the management of railways.

The seven families who suffered bereavement in the Potters Bar rail crash on May 10 2002 have viewed with incredulity the pictures of the train crash in Cumbria. While the human damage on Friday night was certainly not as dreadful as it was at Potters Bar, it was one of the most dramatic derailments in living memory, with eight carriages sliding down an embankment. The actions of a brave train driver, the relatively robust build of the train and the restraining effect of trees meant only one fatality and fewer seriously injured than could so easily have been the case. Richard Branson, the head of Virgin Trains, spoke with dignity about his sorrow at the crash. All of this offers little comfort to those injured, traumatised and bereaved, however; and there are now indications that it happened for the same reasons as Potters Bar - nuts and bolts on the points coming loose.

As the solicitor for the bereaved of Potters Bar I believe the management of Railtrack and Jarvis should face criminal prosecution for allowing safety wantonly to be put at risk. Five years later, because of the government's failure to honour its oft-repeated commitment to make the interests of victims paramount, there are more victims in Cumbria, and apparently for the same reason.

Eighty-nine separate defects were found on the points involved in the Potters Bar crash - among them corroded threads, decayed rubber bushes, missing nuts and bolts and a fractured lock stretcher bar. When defects such as loose nuts were found, maintenance workers did not report them but did a "quick fix", screwing loose nuts back on. The railway bylaws or "group standards" incredibly set no criteria for maintenance inspections. But the immediate cause of the crash was a misaligned front stretcher bar and neither Jarvis nor Railtrack ever accepted the blame for it. Instead Jarvis gave briefings to the press suggesting there had been sabotage.

In this situation the then transport secretary, Alistair Darling, should have ordered a public inquiry to establish what went wrong. But after the most important of Lord Cullen's recommendations on train protection after the Ladbroke Grove crash had been abandoned on cost grounds, the government did not want any more public inquiries. Instead there was a seemingly endless and inconclusive investigation by British Transport Police, the Rail Standards and Safety Board and the Health and Safety Executive behind closed doors.

The Potters Bar families were treated disgracefully. They faced having to go to court themselves without legal aid (which was twice refused) to prove who was responsible if they wanted to challenge compensation offers. It was only after a delay of two years that Network Rail and Jarvis formally accepted liability in court proceedings with considerable bad grace. Last year the families mounted an unsuccessful challenge in the courts to the government's refusal to have a public inquiry. The first public examination of what went wrong in Potters Bar is now due to start in April in the form of an inquest before a high court judge and a jury.

The aftermath of the Cumbria rail crash is uncomfortably familiar. After Potters Bar, Railtrack announced it was examining all the points on the network urgently. Network Rail has now made the same announcement. Since Potters Bar, railway maintenance has been taken back in-house by Network Rail so at least there are not two companies blaming one another, but the reassurances given that this would solve the problem now sound hollow. The chief executive of Network Rail, John Armitt, appeared on television denying systemic management failure, just as happened after Potters Bar. And the claim of sabotage, unbelievably, is again surfacing through unattributable briefings of journalists and experts.

In her book Dear Austen, my client Nina Bawden, the novelist injured in the Potters Bar crash and whose husband Austen Kark (a previous head of the BBC World Service) was killed, described her shock at what happened and incomprehension at the lack of accountability. The families of those affected by the Cumbria train crash should not have to face the same indifference. There must be a full public inquiry and a commitment from Douglas Alexander, the transport secretary, backed by the prime minister and chancellor, to implement its recommendations - even if it means spending substantial public money.

The points in the Cumbria rail crash were reportedly 30 years old, despite the upgrading of the west coast line. It is known that there is no proper record of the age and condition of the safety-critical parts of the crumbling Victorian rail infrastructure. Fragmented privatisation continues to play a malign role in sucking out money from the places it is needed. A public inquiry examining the reasons for both crashes should be called urgently to look at what is going wrong in the management of rail maintenance and renewal. The problems cannot again be swept under the carpet as was tried after Potters Bar. The country surely deserves a better public transport system than this.

· Louise Christian of Christian Khan is a solicitor who has acted for the victims of the Southall, Ladbroke Grove and Potters Bar rail crashes
louisec@christiankhan.co.uk

Posted on 11:54 PM | Permalink

The Scotsman: 27 Feb 2007

PRESSURE was increasing on the Government today to launch a public inquiry into the fatal Cumbria train derailment.

An interim report revealed the cause of Friday evening's accident was a faulty set of points.

Louise Christian, the solicitor representing the families of those killed in the Potters Bar crash in 2002 said the two accidents were "incredibly similar".

And Bob Crow, general secretary of the rail workers' RMT union, echoed her calls for a full public inquiry.

The report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) found one of three stretcher bars - which keep moving rails a set distance apart - was missing, the other two were fractured and there were bolts missing.
At Potters Bar there were nuts missing from points and the lock stretcher bar was fractured.

Ms Christian called for a joint public inquiry into the two crashes, focusing on the issue of railway maintenance, to find out "why the lessons haven't been learnt".

"I don't think it's good enough for the Government to sit on its hands again as it did over Potters Bar," she said.
Mr Crow said: "There are frightening similarities between Grayrigg and the Potters Bar crash."

Comments

1. Boswell / 4:32pm 27 Feb 2007

Yes, we deserve an inquiry.

Network Rail's inept maintenance and inspection scheme needs exposed once and for all. And I thought Railtrack was bad...

NR don't seem to understand simple concepts like the "four eyes principle". They also don't appear to appreciate how, when major engineering takes place, there is inevitably a settling-in period of the new components. This period deserves more frequent inspections. Once a bolt has been proven to retain its torque settings over a number of (proven and verifiable) inspections, one might imagine the inspection efforts could be scaled back to normal. This is simple engineering, not brain surgery for god's sake.

In the old days when ships (and locomotives) were made of iron there were daily inspections by wheel tappers and permanent way inspectors. Given the additional pounding the track now takes from higher speed trains I don't see any reason to relax such a (historic) regime. Unfortunately its bitten the dust as a victim of bean counters and supposedly superior materials (lol) that are available today.

Not too long ago NR made a big fuss in the trade press with their track inspection trains which would "revolutionise" the inspection regimes by using ir cameras, high speed video and the like that could be later analysed by computer. It seems they have failed to roll out enough of these sets, presumably because they thought one or two were enough given their higher speed of operation.

Fools: incidents (not accidents, please note) like this serve to remind us that such automated systems might have their place, but the regime needs greater frequency, with "high speed" (lol again) lines have daily inspection. You also cannot supplant manual, human inspection by a train passing over a set of points at 40mph, no matter how frequently its done.

Posted on 11:44 PM | Permalink

RMT: February 26 2007

THE INTERIM report into last week’s fatal Cumbria train derailment underlines the need for a public inquiry into the crash, Britain’s biggest rail union RMT said today.

Speaking after today's Rail Accident Investigation Branch Report confirmed that faulty points were the cause of Friday's accident at Grayrigg, RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "There are frightening similarities between Grayrigg and the Potters Bar crash in 2002.

"The government has shamefully resisted calls for a public inquiry into Potters Bar. Yet internal industry inquiries have clearly proved insufficient to stop a repeat of that tragedy.

"We need to get all the facts out into the open. Nothing less than a full public inquiry will do," Bob Crow added.

The union believes that any public inquiry must examine the adequacy of Network Rail's management systems because of the fragmentation of engineering work that still afflicts Britain's railways.

It is often unclear, for example, which track employees have worked in the vicinity of a site. A total of 92,000 workers from a myriad of different engineering companies have access to the trackside across Britain's rail network.

The union warned that should the government fail to order a public inquiry, RMT will take the matter to judicial review.

Posted on 10:47 AM | Permalink

Financial Times: February 27 2007
By Robert Wright, Transport Correspondent

Network Rail, the company that owns the rail network, apologised last night for track faults that led to Friday's fatal derailment in Cumbria, after an initial accident report blamed the crash on the failure of a set of points.

John Armitt, its chief executive, said the company had been "devastated" to have to conclude, after the Rail Accident Investigation Branch report, that the condition of the points - at Lambrigg, five miles north of Oxenholme station - had caused the crash.

Douglas Alexander, the transport secretary, told the House of Commons that the RAIB could have made urgent safety recommendations to the industry but had not done so. That suggests the RAIB believes there is no widespread problem with points maintenance.

"... there are still contractors, subcontractors, labour-only agencies and one-man-and-a-trolley outfits let loose on the tracks under Network Rail and this should form part of the remit for the public inquiry." - Bob Crow, RMT

Mr Armitt said Network Rail accepted all respects of the RAIB report. "We now need to understand how the points came to be in this condition," he said. "We will leave no stone unturned in our search for the facts behind this derailment."

The accident happened when a tilting Pendolino train heading from London to Glasgow hit the Lambrigg points at 95mph and derailed. Margaret Masson, 84, from Glasgow was killed and eight of the 115 people on board were seriously injured.

The RAIB concentrated on the points and, in particular, the three so-called stretcher bars meant to keep the switch rails - the moving parts of the points - in place. One of the stretcher bars was missing, as were nuts and bolts meant to secure another. Two of the stretcher bars were broken - although one might have been broken in the accident.

The report concludes that no stretcher bars were properly in place and, as a result, the switch rails were both either near or touching the outer running rails. The train was forced between the narrowing switch rails and pushed off the track.

Railway experts were shocked that a set of points on the UK's busiest high-speed main line had been in such condition.

Rod Smith, a professor of rail engineering at Imperial College London, said his fears about the cause of the crash had been confirmed. "This report confirms that stretcher bars were missing, bolts were missing," he said. "It looks pretty grim."

But he warned against panicking. "I cannot see there's a systemic issue because [if there were] there would be accidents all the time," he said. "There are hundreds - if not thousands - of such points, all over the network."

Mr Armitt reiterated that hundreds of checks all over Britain had so far found no further serious problems elsewhere. "Despite this terrible tragedy, it is worth remembering that the railway is safer than it has ever been," he said.

See also:

Network Rail chief apologises as report blames set of points

The Guardian: February 27, 2007
Audrey Gillan

Rail workers examine the scene of the Virgin train crash. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

Network Rail admitted yesterday that maintenance failures caused Friday's Cumbria rail crash, killing an 84-year-old passenger and injuring dozens.

Responding to the publication of an interim investigation, which seemingly pointed at human error, the company said it was "devastated" and apologised unreservedly "to all the people affected by the failure of the infrastructure".

A report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch concluded that one of three stretcher bars, which keep the rails properly apart at a points intersection, was missing and two others were fractured. It said bolts used to secure the lock bar and another stretcher bar were not in place. Some missing nuts and washers were found nearby; others were not.

The investigators found no indication that the bolts had been wrenched free.

John Armitt, the Network Rail chief executive, whose organisation took over responsibility for track maintenance in 2002, admitted he had considered resigning over the failure, but decided not to do so.

He said: "Network Rail is devastated to conclude that the condition of the set of points at Grayrigg caused this terrible accident. We accept the RAIB report in all respects. We would like to apologise to all the people affected by the failure of the infrastructure. We now need to understand how the points came to be in this condition and we will leave no stone unturned in our search for the facts behind this derailment."

Richard Branson, whose Virgin Pendolino tilting train crashed, commended Network Rail for "taking it on the chin". Virgin's "prime concern" remained the family of Margaret Masson, the woman who died in the accident.

She was travelling with her daughter Margaret Langley, who, along with her husband, Richard, was seriously injured in the accident as the train travelled from London to Glasgow.

In a statement yesterday, Mrs Masson's grandchildren, Moe, Carol, Margaret and Jimmy, said: "The whole family is completely devastated about the loss of our nan, Peggy. This grief has been harder to deal with due to our parents being involved in the accident, too. Thankfully, both seem to be recovering well.

"Our nan was a generous, loving lady who we will all miss tremendously. Our parents are aware of our nan's passing and both are understandably upset."

Mrs Masson lived in Glasgow and was on her way home after visiting her daughter in Southport, Merseyside.

Last night Iain Black, the train's driver who is recovering in hospital with a neck injury, issued a statement praising hospital staff and emergency crews: "I am obviously distraught that one person died in the accident and saddened about those who remain seriously ill and I wish them all a speedy recovery.

"Obviously I can't say anything about the accident because of the ongoing investigation but I'm just glad more people were not seriously injured."

A total of 111 passengers and four staff were on the nine-carriage train. One passenger, Graeme Stewart, 28, who was in the front carriage, said from his hospital bed yesterday: "I don't want to blame anyone, but I want a reason for what happened. I travel on the train all the time so I need to know it's safe before I get on the train again."

A Network Rail spokesman said it was too early to say whether anyone would be suspended over the accident.

The incident is similar to the May 2002 Potters Bar derailment which claimed seven lives.

The interim report into the Grayrigg incident found similar nuts missing and a fractured stretcher bar. It said: "The train wheels were thus set on a course where the gauge was narrowing as the train moved forward. The train wheels, [which are rigidly mounted on an axle a fixed distance apart], could not follow the narrowing route and climbed over both switch rails, and then ran in a derailed state. All the remaining wheels of the train derailed at the points."

The report said there was no indication that there had been any fault with the train or that the way it was driven had been a contributory factor.

British Transport Police sources said it was possible its investigation would lead to a report being sent to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The RMT union joined calls last night for an independent inquiry into the accident. Its general secretary, Bob Crow, wrote to the transport secretary, Douglas Alexander, to complain: "It is our contention that the public inquiry, in addition to establishing the facts of the accident, should also examine the adequacy of Network Rail's management systems because of the fragmentation of engineering work that still afflicts our railways."

He went on: "I am extremely concerned that there are still contractors, subcontractors, labour-only agencies and one-man-and-a-trolley outfits let loose on the tracks under Network Rail and this should form part of the remit for the public inquiry."

Posted on 09:33 AM | Permalink

The Hindu: Feb 27, 2007
Mandira Nayar

Move to restore original heritage and glory

A GRAND OLD STRUCTURE: Old Delhi railway station is all set for a makeover. Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma

NEW DELHI: The Old Delhi railway station was in the spotlight recently for all the wrong reasons, but the first station in the city is all set to make some big changes.

From de-cluttering its surroundings to concentrating on restoring the building to its old glory, Northern Railway is hoping to take the station into flashback mode.

One of the earliest railway stations built by the British in India, the present building of the Old Delhi railway station was constructed in the 1900s. Inspired by Shahjahan's Red Fort, the Old Delhi station may not be as imposing as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai, which has recently been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, but it is no less significant. And taking its history seriously, Northern Railway is hoping to capitalise on its legacy.

"Northern Railway had asked experts in the field of conservation to take a look at the building and make suggestions. These suggestions will be taken into account when work on the building is started. The building is an important heritage structure and we are not prepared to make any changes that will tamper with this character. We want to restore the building to its old glory and for that work will start on its façade soon,'' says Northern Railway spokesperson Rajeev Saxena.

With charming fireplaces hidden behind modern steel chairs and high ceilings, details that are lost on most passengers rushing around, the station needs a lot of work to regain its atmosphere.

Chaos

"The work on the building has to be in tandem with the surroundings. At the moment, there is a lot of chaos around the building. There is a crowded bazaar. Loaders pushing their handcarts pass from front of the station. This area needs to be de-cluttered and we are working with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi for this,'' he says.

In an attempt to streamline traffic, the Kashmere Gate entrance to the station has also been opened recently. Northern Railway is also planning to upgrade facilities at the station.

"The signage at the station will also be revamped. The idea is to standardise them so that they will be recognisable,'' points out Mr. Saxena.

Posted on 08:49 AM | Permalink

Swindon Advertiser: 26 Feb, 2007
By Stephanie Tye

THE Swindon Disease has claimed the life of another of the town's former railway workers.

An inquest has heard that mesothelioma was a significant contributing factor to the death of 80-year-old Herbert Shergold.

Queensfield resident Mr Shergold, who was known to his friends as Joe, died on November 21 at the Great Western Hospital.
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He had been admitted to the hospital on November 1, suffering from a shortness of breath.

He died of sepsis caused by a pleural abscess.

Mr Shergold was exposed to the deadly asbestos while he was working at the Swindon railway works.

He started work in the running shed in 1942 before he went to work on the engine footplate as a fireman.

It was during this time that he was exposed to asbestos.

Deputy coroner for Wiltshire Nigel Brookes read out a statement Mr Shergold had made in the months leading up to his death.

"He said that while they took the locomotives out for trial at Dauntsey, they would often have a lot of white dust on their clothing," said Mr Brookes.

"He said it was a very dirty job."

After working at Pressed Steel for two years, Mr Shergold returned to the railway works where he worked in A shop and E shop.

He remained at the works until it closed in 1986.

The inquest heard the 80-year-old had suffered from shortness of breath for a number of years, a loss of appetite and subsequent weight loss.

In August last year he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, which does not have a cure.

Summing up the inquest, Mr Brookes said it was obvious that Mr Shergold had been exposed to the substance for a number of years.

"We have gone back a long way to the days before Network Rail," he said.

"I think many little boys of that generation and of subsequent generations envied the men, like Mr Shergold, who worked on the footplate.

"They saw it as glamorous, but as we have heard today it was not.

"No-one knew just how dangerous asbestos was in those days, and it was used liberally in the railway works."

Mr Brookes gave a verdict of industrial disease.

A DAY to raise awareness of the killer disease mesothelioma was held yesterday.

Mesothelioma Action Day is a national event designed to heighten awareness of the asbestos-related disease.

At last year's action day, members of the Swindon and South West Asbestos group released more than 20 white balloons, each bearing the name of an asbestos victim.

The group is on hand to offer advice and support to family members affected by asbestos-related diseases and regularly hold social events.

To find out more about the group call the helpline on 01793 496395.

Posted on 11:43 PM | Permalink

London Evening Standard: 25.02.07

The interim report found that one of three stretcher bars was missing and two others were fractured.

Rail bosses face the prospect of manslaughter charges after a damning report by investigators revealed the shocking safety lapses that caused the fatal Cumbria rail crash.

Network Rail also faces potentially record punitive fines - running into millions of pounds - for its stewardship of the track on which the disaster happened.

In a clear admission of responsibility, Network Rail chief executive John Armitt delivered an unprecedented, immediate and unconditional apology for the "failure" of the state of the track where the fatal accident happened - just minutes after the damning report was released.

A faulty set of points was the "immediate cause" of the fatal Cumbria train derailment, said the interim accident report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch.

Vital parts needed to hold the track together were missing or broken when the 95mph Virgin express train - carrying 111 passengers and four staff - hit the points which de-railed it, leaving one woman pensioner dead and scores of passengers injured. One of three stretcher bars - that keep moving rails a set distance apart - was missing, the other two were fractured. At least one was broken before the crash.

A series of key locking bolts were also missing. As a result, the London to Scotland Virgin Pendolino tilting train moving over the tracks could not follow its proper path and derailed at Grayrigg on Friday evening.

There was also evidence that the last scheduled visual inspection of the track on February 18 by Network Rail - the infrastructure company responsible for the track - did not take place, the RAIB report said.

The tragedy, which has rocked the Government, is a near carbon-copy repeat of the Potters Bar tragedy of five years ago and - amid calls for a public inquiry - has led critics to question what if any lessons have been learned.

Family of the 84-year-old victim, Margaret Masson, called for criminal prosecution to be brought.

Her niece Connie Leese, 59, said: "I would like to see whoever is responsible for this to be prosecuted because it is human error and mistakes like this cannot be allowed to happen again."

"I'm so angry and upset. I just have this massive sense of frustration knowing that if the line was regularly checked they would have seen the parts were missing and my aunt would still be alive."

Solicitor Louise Christian who has represented victims of the Ladbroke Grove, Hatfield, and Potters Bar rail disasters said: "There will have to be a criminal investigation and manslaughter will have to be considered."

However, she said that under the current law, it was difficult to make a corporate manslaughter or even a manslaughter charge stick. In previous rail disasters, charges against executives and managers have been subsequently dropped.

But Deputy Chief Constable Andy Trotter from the British Transport Police said criminal charges could be brought. "Witnesses are being interviewed. And in due course, consideration may be given to submitting a report to the Crown Prosecution Service," he said.

About 15 people - including four track inspectors, a signal man, and various Network Rail employees and managers, are being interviewed.

The stinging report means the investigation by police and accident investigators has switched squarely to maintenance - which is now solely the responsibility of Network Rail.

Labour's recent decision to run the railways directly from Whitehall - in what some critics have described as a partial re-nationalisation - means ministers also now find themselves in directly in the political firing line.

Network Rail was specifically set up by the Government to run the tracks after former Transport Secretary Stephen Byers pulled the plug on its predecessor Railtrack - on grounds of cost and safety.

He replaced it with not-for dividend Network Rail which acts to all intents and purposes like a Government quango.

In an ununprecedented and swift reaction, Network Rail chief executive John Armitt said: "Network Rail is devastated to conclude that the condition of the set of points at Grayrigg caused this terrible accident.

"We accept the RAIB report in all respects. We would like to apologise to all the people affected by the failure of the infrastructure."

Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson said he took his hat off to NR "for taking it on the chin" and that the report showed the strength of the Pendolino carriages which did not break up in the crash.

Virgin train driver Iain Black - who has been hailed a hero for his actions in trying to control the train - last night paid tribute to the emergency services and said he was "distraught" that somebody had died.

And the four grandchildren of the woman who died - Margaret "Peggy" Masson - paid tribute to their "generous, loving nan".

Her daughter and son-in-law Margaret Langley, 61, and Richard Langley, 63, were also injured in the crash, and are in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

The RAIB's initial findings show that the probable cause of the Cumbria derailment is similar to that of the May 2002 Potters Bar derailment, which claimed seven lives. At Potters Bar there were nuts missing from a set of points and the lock stretcher bar fractured.

The immediate cause of the Cumbria accident was the condition of the stretcher bar arrangement at the points - known as Lambrigg.

The Virgin train could not follow the correct route across the tracks as it went over this set of points and "climbed over both switch rails and then ran into a derailed state".

The train travelled a further 600 metres and came to rest on the side of a railway embankment.

There was no evidence the signals, the condition of the train or the way it was being driven had contributed to the accident, the report said.

Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander said a final report into the crash would take "some months to prepare" But he said: "If in the course of their investigations the investigators discover something which needs to be done to improve safety, it will be done immediately."

But Shadow transport secretary Chris Grayling said there had been "operational failure within NR and this must be addressed as a matter of urgency."

Bob Crow, general secretary of transport union the RMT, said: "There are frightening similarities between Grayrigg and the Potters Bar crash in 2002. The Government has shamefully resisted calls for a public inquiry into Potters Bar. Nothing less than a full public inquiry will do."

See also:

Rail crash lessons 'not learned'

Press Association: February 26, 2007

The fatal Cumbria train derailment shows that lessons have not been learned since the Potters Bar crash nearly five years ago, it has been claimed.

A faulty set of points was the "immediate cause" of Friday evening's accident at Grayrigg, near Kendal, an interim accident report said, prompting calls for a public inquiry.

One of three stretcher bars - which keep moving rails a set distance apart - was missing, the other two were fractured and there were bolts missing, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) found.

Louise Christian, the solicitor representing the families of those killed at Potters Bar in May 2002, said the circumstances of the earlier accident were "incredibly similar". She called for a joint public inquiry into the two crashes, focusing on the issue of railway maintenance, to find out "why the lessons haven't been learnt". "I don't think it's good enough for the Government to sit on its hands again as it did over Potters Bar," she said.

The RAIB report said the points failure on Friday meant the London to Scotland Virgin Pendolino tilting train moving over the tracks could not follow its proper path and derailed. There was also evidence that the last scheduled visual inspection of the track on February 18 by Network Rail (NR) - the infrastructure company responsible for the track - did not take place.

Rail unions also called for a public inquiry into the accident, in which an 84-year-old woman died in hospital after the crash and 22 others needed hospital treatment.

The RAIB's initial findings show that the probable cause of the Cumbria accident is similar to the cause of the May 2002 Potters Bar derailment, which claimed seven lives.

At Potters Bar there were nuts missing from a set of points and the lock stretcher bar fractured.

The report said the immediate cause of the accident was the condition of the stretcher bar arrangement at the points - known as Lambrigg. The Virgin train could not follow the correct route across the tracks as it went over this set of points and "climbed over both switch rails and then ran into a derailed state".

There was no evidence the signals, the condition of the train or the way it was being driven had contributed to the accident, the report said. There was also no evidence that the bolts on the points had been wrenched free.

See also:

Second train 'minutes away' from hitting crash wreckage

Edinburgh Evening News: 26 Feb 2007
BILL JACOBS

A SECOND train was just minutes from disaster as it narrowly avoided ploughing into the Cumbria rail crash wreckage, it emerged today.

A train travelling from Scotland to England managed to stop just a couple of hundred yards from where the Glasgow-bound Virgin Pendolino left the track on Friday night.
Click to learn more...

Had it hit the wreckage the death and injury toll of one fatality and six serious injuries would have been far worse.

The RMT union revealed the lucky escape as it was confirmed that the crash investigation would focus on a pair of emergency points to the south of the scene of the accident.

With disruption between Carlisle and Preston and Lancaster likely to continue for more than a week, initial reports suggest that crucial bolts had come loose from the points used to divert trains on to the other track during maintenance. This is a chilling echo of what happened at the Potters Bar rail crash outside London in May 2002.

Investigators now doubt that sabotage was responsible although police are looking at claims by the Scottish National Liberation Army that they were looking to cause chaos on Anglo-Scottish rail lines in the near future.

But the news that a second train could have hit the wreckage will cause most alarm at the top of the rail industry.

John Tilley of the RMT rail union said that the second passenger train was minutes away from hitting the coaches on the track at Grayrigg near Oxenholme in the Lake District.

He said: "Lucky it stopped a couple of hundred yards up the track when the driver was alerted to the crash.

"But there was literally minutes in it. There could have been carnage."

However, while the state of the points is the focus of the investigation, the state of the new Virgin Pendolino train has been praised.

The safety features and strong construction of the train is said by experts to have saved further casualties.

And it is expected to be fit to return to service after repairs.

In Friday's accident on the packed 5.15pm London Euston to Glasgow train, 84-year-old Margaret Masson died, her daughter Margaret Langley, 61, and son-in-law, Richard, 63, were among six serious injuries and five of the other 60 hurt are still in hospital in Lancashire and Cumbria.

The driver of the express, Ian Black, is recovering in hospital after being hailed as a hero for staying in his cab to control the engine of the train as carriages jackknifed around him.

Already more than 700 checks have been completed on points across the UK rail network but two signal technicians responsible for checking the points at Grayrigg not far from Kendal are among several Network Rail workers due to be interviewed by police and investigators.

The track was inspected three weeks ago, Network Rail's chief executive John Armitt revealed today, but should have been checked at least once if not twice since.

These weekly checks take place visually and there is a full mechanical survey every 13 weeks.

But Mr Armitt today said he was confident that proper checks had taken place and that the Network Rail staff conducting them were fully qualified and able to do the job properly.

Today's report will not draw firm conclusions but will make immediate safety recommendations, indicate the initial assessments of what happened and give a direction for the inquiry to continue in the future.

See also:

Fatal crash was caused by blunders in rail track maintenance

The Times: February 27, 2007
Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent

British Transport Police are conducting a criminal investigation after Network Rail admitted that a maintenance error was almost certainly to blame for Friday’s fatal train crash in Cumbria.

A key component in a set of points where the Virgin train was derailed was missing at the time of the accident and vital bolts were not in place, an interim report has said.

Network Rail also failed to carry out a scheduled visual inspection of the points six days before last Friday’s crash at Grayrigg, in which an 84-year-old woman died and five people were seriously injured.

The company admitted responsibility and apologised to the 115 people on board the train and the families of Margaret Masson, the dead woman, and the injured.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said that a stretcher bar, one of four which keeps the rails a safe distance apart, was missing and bolts were missing from two remaining bars. The fourth bar had probably broken before the crash. The faults meant that there was nothing to prevent the outer arm of the points, which switch trains from one track to another, from closing against the main rail. The wheels of the train, which was travelling at 90mph, were forced into a narrowing channel and sprang off the rails.

A rail industry source said that the missing stretcher bar had probably been removed some time before the crash after being found broken. Whoever removed it should have immediately informed the control room and a 20mph speed limit should have been imposed on the line until it was replaced.

The cause of the crash has uncanny similarities to the Potters Bar derailment in May 2002, when seven people died after bolts came loose on stretcher bars on a set of points.

Network Rail said that it was trying to find out exactly what adjustments had been made to the points in the past few weeks. But the company said that, under industry rules, it could not speak to its maintenance team in the area until they had been interviewed by the RAIB.

A Network Rail spokesman said: “The most likely conclusion we can draw is that it is a failure in the maintenance of these points and we would like to apologise to everyone involved. We are absolutely devastated that this happened on our watch.”

He was unable to say why the inspection scheduled for SundayFebruary 18 had failed to take place. The last visual inspection, undertaken by two workers, was on Sunday, February 11.

The points, which were rarely used, were last serviced on February 3. A special high-speed train that measures the condition of the track had passed over the points on Wednesday. The RAIB is inspecting video footage from a camera under the train to see if the faults were present then.

The report said there was no evidence that the bolts had been “wrenched free” and the indications were that the points “were the immediate cause of the derailment”.

John Armitt, chief executive of Network Rail, said he did not believe the faults with the points were the result of sabotage. He added: “When more detailed findings are available, we will consider them carefully, and learn any lessons that need to be learnt. We will also, at that time, consider any action that might need to be taken as a result.”

Safety check

90mph Speed of train when it crashed

20mph Speed restriction that should have been put in place when stretcher bar was removed

12 Number of days between last inspection and crash

700 Number of special inspections carried out by Network Rail over the weekend

Posted on 11:08 PM | Permalink

BBC News: 26 February 2007

A set of points near the site of the Cumbria train crash site was faulty, an initial report has found.

The interim report focus is on how the points operated

Investigators have found one of three stretcher bars was not in position, one had nuts and bolts missing and two were fractured.

The bars join the moving rails, keeping them a set distance apart.

Network Rail chief executive John Armitt said his organisation was "devastated" by the report and he offered an "unreserved apology".

Graphic: position of stretcher bars on points

Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson said he "took his hat off" to Network Rail for being "dignified" in accepting responsibility for the accident.

The London to Glasgow Virgin Pendolino train derailed on Friday evening at Grayrigg, killing Margaret Masson, 84, and seriously injuring eight others.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said in its report that there was "no complete stretcher bar in place between the switch rails immediately before the derailment".

One of the stretcher bars was possibly fractured before the crash and one possibly after, it said.

Interim accident report [346k]
Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader

It also said there was no evidence to indicate the driving of the train or the condition of the train were contributory factors.

However, it added that there was evidence that the last scheduled inspection of the points, known as Lambrigg 2B, on 18 February did not take place.

The report concluded that "the immediate cause of the accident was the condition of the stretcher bar arrangement at points 2B at Lambrigg".

Mr Armitt said: "Network Rail is devastated to conclude that the condition of the set of points at Grayrigg caused this terrible accident."

He added: "We would like to apologise to all the people affected by the failure of the infrastructure."

He told the BBC he would not resign over the accident because it was not the time to "abdicate his responsibilities".

"The inquiry into the Cumbria rail tragedy is likely to be long and sweeping" - Tom Symonds, BBC transport correspondent

Sir Richard added: "It is not for us to apportion blame but rather to work closely together as train operating companies with all our partners in the industry, particularly Network Rail, to ensure that this never happens again."

He said a solution would be to organise routine maintenance locally, rather than centrally, to ensure local managers took pride in ensuring the safety of train tracks.

Iain Black, 46, the train driver, who suffered a broken collar bone and a broken bone in his neck, has paid tribute to the emergency services who helped in the aftermath of the crash.

Mr Black, who remains in a serious but stable condition, said he was "distraught" that somebody had died.

The grandchildren of the crash's elderly victim have spoken of their devastation at losing a "generous, loving lady".

Her daughter and son-in-law Margaret Langley, 61, and Richard Langley, 63, were also injured in the crash, and are in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

Two other passengers also remain stable.

Deputy Chief Constable Andy Trotter from the British Transport Police said he was not ruling out criminal charges being brought.

"Witnesses are being interviewed. And in due course, consideration may be given to submitting a report to the Crown Prosecution Service," he said.

Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander told the House of Commons that investigators would continue to study the "immediate and underlying" reasons why three stretcher bars were damaged or missing.

Any recommendations for urgent safety improvements during the investigation into the derailment would be acted upon immediately, he pledged.

But the final report would take "some months to prepare", he added.

Work on removing the train carriages from the site is not expected to begin until the end of the week.

Contractors are currently building two temporary roads from steel across muddy fields to allow heavy lifting gear access, and cranes will take about 48 hours to set up.

A forensic examination carried out by the British Transport Police, the RAIB and Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate is expected to continue at the site for several days.

Meanwhile there have been calls for an independent public inquiry into the crash.

Louise Christian, the solicitor who represented victims of the 2002 Potters Bar crash, in which seven people died when a train derailed following a points failure, said not enough had been done since then to improve rail safety.

The Transport Salaried Staffs Association union supported the calls.

While the crash investigation continues, buses are operating from Preston to Carlisle and from Lancaster to Carlisle serving Oxenholme and Penrith, in both directions.

GNER, TransPennine, Northern and Virgin CrossCountry have said they are accepting Virgin West Coast tickets until further notice.

Posted on 08:39 PM | Permalink

Financial Times: February 26 2007
By Gerrit Wiesmann in Berlin

Hartmut Mehdorn has the big jaw and weathered hands of a bruiser. That's fitting for a man who is ready to confront all who question the sale, in 2008, of a chunk of Germany's state railway and its right to operate 34,000km of track.

Late last week it was the turn of the national audit office. Its confidential report, alleging neglect of track, had found its way into the papers - "just by accident", Deutsche Bahn's chief executive wryly noted.

"If there's anyone in Germany interested in a good network, it is Deutsche Bahn," he said. "This is our business and we're not about to wreck it - even if some bureaucrats claim that we are. There are no safety deficiencies."

The Bundestag is meant to give its backing to the sale plan in the autumn, in spite of qualms about the tracks not being run by the state.

For Mr Mehdorn, the audit office joins the litany of doubters - politicians, rivals and consumers - he has had to fend off in his seven years at the helm.

The government recently accepted his main demand - that DB be allowed to run the track that DB and its rivals use - although it said the state would remain the legal owner.

Berlin is still working on the documentation, but Mr Mehdorn said he was almost certain the privatisation would take place. Public officials, though more cautious, also wager on success.

"That's because there's no alternative to the project," Mr Mehdorn said. "Berlin has enough problems with funding education, pensions and healthcare. Railways are not a priority. That's why the Bahn must fendfor itself."

Management had done its bit to ensure privatisation, he said. "We've made the Bahn fit in terms of profitability and efficiency."

Even his many commercial rivals and political foes would find it hard to deny that claim.

Since taking over in 1999, Mr Mehdorn has turned DB from a loss-making national railway into a profitable global logistics group. Operating earnings hit €2bn ($2.6bn) on sales of €30bn in 2006, DB's fourth straight year in the black.

Privatisation is meant to free it to grow even more.

Mr Mehdorn said eight logistics groups, including DB and Deutsche Post, held only 10 per cent of a global market of €500bn in annual sales and "50,000 other groups] hold 90 per cent".

He added: "It's a business screaming for the big guy to eat the little one - and we want to take part ... We could buy railway assets in eastern Europe or ... logistics assets in Asia or the Americas."

Because the German constitution demands the state controls the nation's rail lines, only 49 per cent of DB stock could be sold. People close to the company expect no more than half of that to go on the block at first.

"We don't expect to sell [DB stock] in the form of 'people's shares'. That chance has been botched," Mr Mehdorn said, referring to the initially popular Deutsche Telekom shares and their recent fall from grace.

Instead DB expects pension funds and other institutional players to be liningup to buy.

"A small portion of stock might be sold to retail investors," Mr Mehdorn said. "We need traded shares to get a market valuation."

That would also give investors an exit route, an argument against selling directly to private equity, he said. "Our owner has to decide . . [but Berlin] would get more via a stock listing as investors would be more willing [to buy]."

Posted on 10:16 AM | Permalink

Bloomberg: Feb. 25
By Reed V. Landberg

U.K. investigators probing the derailment of a high-speed train on Feb. 23 may disclose their initial findings as early as tomorrow as officials focus on a set of points used to switch trains to another track.

"They will be telling us what they have learned tomorrow,'' John Armitt, chief executive of Network Rail Ltd., which operates Britain's railroad track and signaling network, said in an interview on Sky News today.

A Virgin train traveling from London to Glasgow jumped the tracks at 8:25 p.m. on Friday after passing over a switch near the village of Grayrigg, about 4 miles northeast of Kendal in England's Lakeland. One person was killed and 22 injured after all nine carriages of the train left the track.

Network Rail has invested 8 billion pounds ($15.7 billion) re-laying 1,100 miles of track along the West Coast Mainline to address safety concerns and speed up services linking London and Scotland. The three-year upgrade, completed in 2005, cut 40 minutes off the London-Glasgow journey and allowed Virgin to operate trains at up to 125 miles per hour on the track.

A series of rail crashes following the sale of British Rail to private companies in the mid-1990s raised concerns about the safety of the service and quality of maintenance work. Sky News, citing unidentified people close to the investigation, said bolts from the points or switching unit were found near the track.

Police Statement

"Investigative work is set to continue for some days and is focusing on a set of points south of the scene of the derailment,'' British Transport Police, who are coordinating the investigation, said in a statement today. The police said they would report within seven days and earlier if possible.

Access to the scene was complicated by rainy weather and muddy rural roads accessing the track, the police said. About 75 investigators at the site were combing through the wreckage and preparing local roads for cranes needed to lift pieces of the train that fell down an embankment.

Network Rail was performing safety checks on 700 other switches nationwide, a process unlikely to delay services, Armitt said on BBC Radio 4's World This Weekend program.

Trains to Glasgow will stop at Lancaster, where passengers will board a replacement bus service to Carlisle, Virgin Group Ltd. said in a statement posted on its Web site.

"The initial estimate for the line to reopen is during the week commencing Monday, March 5,'' Virgin said.

Switch in Question

Armitt said the switch near the derailment was last inspected on Feb. 3 and that the West Coast track was "in good condition'' after the upgrade. The points, used infrequently, were last opened on Feb. 15, according to Bob Crow, the head of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union.

Crow said private companies including Jarvis Plc and Balfour Beatty Plc, which do some work under contract for Network Rail, shouldn't have a role in the railways. Jarvis said in January it won contracts for the West Coast Mainline valued at a minimum of 65 million pounds, including a five-year project to upgrade signaling on the line and rebuilding a station at Rugby.

"Some points failure has taken place, and that is unacceptable in this day and age,'' Crow said on the BBC Sunday AM program. "You don't see bolts falling off planes and space ships. What Network Rail should be doing is bringing all work into the public ownership.''

Jarvis spokeswoman Toni Jackson said today her company wasn't involved in maintenance work for Network Rail. Network Rail spokeswoman Rebecca Warren said yesterday that maintenance work on the line was done in-house by Network Rail.

"In 2005, all the private contractors were relieved of their responsibilities for maintenance, so all the network is maintained directly by Network Rail,'' said Tim Sharp, a spokesman for Balfour Beatty. "The only thing we've done on the West Coast mainline is electrification.''

Conservative Concern

Britain's main opposition Conservative Party, which privatized British Rail under Prime Minister John Major beginning in 1993, said it was considering ways to make Network Rail work more closely with companies including Virgin Group Ltd. that operate the trains.

"here is mismatch between the management of the railways and the companies that run the trains,'' George Osborne, the Conservative lawmaker in charge of economic policy, said on Sky News. "We're looking into whether there should be a much closer link between the company that owns the track and the ones that run the trains.''

Three-Year Investment

Network Rail, a government-backed company, took over Britain's 20,000 miles of track and 2,500 stations in October 2002 after its privately owned predecessor, Railtrack, was blamed for the shattering of a rail that led to a fatal crash at Hatfield, near London, in 2000.

That crash prompted a three-year investment in improving tracks across the U.K., costing at least 17.2 billion pounds. Crashes in the 1990s raised further safety concerns.

The derailment of a West Anglia Great Northern train at Potters Bar, north London, in May 2002, killed seven people and seriously injured 11. An inquiry by the country's health and safety regulator, the Health and Safety Executive, found the main cause of the accident was poorly maintained rail switches.

In November 2004, seven people were killed and about 150 injured when a First Great Western train collided with a stopped vehicle at a crossing near the English village of Ufton Nervet. One of those killed was the driver of the car.

Ladbroke Grove

A head-on collision between two trains at Ladbroke Grove Junction, near London's Paddington rail station, in October 1999 killed 31 people and injured 296, after one of the drivers failed to stop at a red light. A public inquiry found problems with training procedures and a lack of response to complaints by train drivers about difficulties seeing the light.

A high-speed train accident near Selby, north England, in February 2001 left six passengers and four railway staff dead, and 82 people with serious injuries. The crash occurred when a car swerved off a nearby road onto the track and got stuck.

Crow, the union leader, added to praise for the Pendolino trains Virgin used, saying the carriages were "fantastic'' in the crash and "haven't crumpled like tin cans.'' Yesterday, Virgin founder Richard Branson praised the safety measures imbedded in the tilting Pendolinos, saying they saved lives.

Virgin ordered its Pendolino trains in 1998 from Fiat Ferroviaria, which was bought in 2000 by the French design and construction company Alstom, now the world's biggest maker of high-speed trains. They went into regular service in 2003.

The trains, which can travel in the U.K. as fast as 125 miles an hour, continue to be maintained by Alstom Traincare, Virgin said on its Web site. The trains can accelerate from a standstill to 100 miles an hour in 100 seconds, Virgin said.

Posted on 05:49 PM | Permalink

Independent Online: 25 February 2007
By Ian Herbert and Cole Moreton

It seems to have been a faulty line - again. Another disaster is added to the disturbing track record of Britain's rail network.

A faulty line was to blame for the Cumbria rail disaster, insisted crash investigators, railway workers and Sir Richard Branson last night. As rain poured down on the remote floodlit scene, Network Rail was coming under huge pressure again for its record on track maintenance. The company announced that it would be checking all its 700 points in the coming weeks "as a precaution".

The elderly woman who died in Friday night's crash was named as Margaret Masson, 84, from Glasgow. More than 70 other passengers were hurt including her daughter and son-in-law who were in the same carriage. "We are devastated by the death of our nan and about mum and dad being so poorly," said Mrs Masson's grand-daughter Margaret Jones.

It was reported last night that loose bolts had been found near the crash scene. Earlier in the day, Bob Crow of the rail union RMT had compared the accident to the Potters Bar crash in 2002, when bolts were also found. "I don't see nuts and bolts falling off 747 jets," he said. "Isn't it about time we had some decent nuts and bolts on the railways?"

British Transport Police made an unprecedented decision to declare, only 12 hours after the 95mph derailment, that they suspected a set of points was to blame. This prompted swift demands for answers from Sir Richard, who was visibly angry on arriving at the remote crash site in Cumbria.

"There must be a post-mortem as to why there was a faulty track again," he said after breaking off from a family holiday in the Alps to return to the UK. "We've said in the past that the companies that actually use the track should have some say in maintaining the track. I am near 100 per cent certain that the train was 100 per cent safe. It is built like a tank."

The engine and carriages came to rest down the side of an embankment 300 yards from the set of points at the centre of the inquiry. The chief executive of Network Rail, John Armitt, whose job may be at risk, admitted the points' proximity to the scene made them "suspect". Poor maintenance by contractors has led to disasters in the past, prompting the Government to bring Network Rail back into state hands.

Without the hothouse atmosphere of companies competing for work on the tracks this sort of thing was not supposed to happen any more.

Mr Armitt insisted these particular points had undergone routine inspections three weeks ago and a few months before that. But he said: "I have to live with the reality that it could be something that has gone wrong on our watch."

The 17.15 service from London Euston to Glasgow Central was three hours into its journeyand travelling at 95mph on Friday evening when it plunged down an embankment in mountainous countryside at Grayrigg, north of Kendal.

"I heard a sudden thump. I thought the train was going to catch fire and I thought I was going to die," said Vanessa Robinson, 25, a tourist from Perth in Australia. Thrown from the train through a smashed window after her carriage turned upside down, she suffered cuts and bruises but did not go to hospital.

"A man flew across the carriage and he landed on top of me," said a fellow passenger, Amy Wilson, a reporter with the Bloomberg news agency.

Despite this, people remained calm "in a very British way", she said. "Everyone was saying, 'Oh gosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to land on you.'"

Some called the emergency services, who already seemed aware of the crash. Half an hour later a man arrived with a ladder he had borrowed from a nearby farm, and climbed on to carriage D. A door was smashed and some people climbed through with the help of firefighters. Others were reluctant, for fear of touching high-voltage power lines. "You can climb out if you want," the man told Ms Wilson. "You're in the middle of a field."

Eventually a group of about 40 passengers from the carriage were helped in the dark to a farmhouse, where they were given cups of tea and painkillers. Rescue services praised local people who helped.

The passenger who died, Margaret Masson, was in the first carriage, where her niece and nephew were among 11 others seriously injured. Last night her neighbour, Mhairi McDonald, said, "She was a lovely person. She was 84 but still very active and always out and about."

Mrs Masson was one of 22 people taken away from the crash by mountain rescue teams and RAF helicopters, whose efforts were hampered by foul weather. Sir Richard praised the train driver, Ian Black, for his courage in maintaining a course on the track ballast for half a mile after the derailment, which meant that the train had slowed by the time his cab plunged down the embankment. "He could have got out of his seat and dashed to the next carriage to save himself," Sir Richard said of Mr Black, a former Cumbria Police officer recruited by Virgin three years ago. "Instead he stayed put."

The Pendolino's computerised systems would have dictated how it slowed once Mr Black had pulled a small brake lever to his left. But the experience as he hurtled towards freefall in the pitch dark on the highest spot in the English railway network would have been terrifying. Mr Black was found crouching in the foetal position in his cab by rescue workers, who cut their way in an hour after the crash. He had a broken collar bone and a broken bone in his neck.

Emergency services expressed astonishment that more people had not died in the crash, which left four carriages on their sides, virtually upended a fifth, and slewed more half-way down the embankment. The driver's cab plunged down the embankment. "We are amazed that we didn't have more fatalities at the scene," said Chief Supt Martyn Ripley of the British Transport Police. "It is little short of a miracle."

The Pendolino's safety systems, designed for the West Coast Main Line's terrain, certainly helped, but the suspicion of faulty points raises a spectre which Network Rail thought it laid put to rest after the Potters Bar crash of 2002, which prompted it to bring most track maintenance in-house.

This time investigations will centre on the condition in which the points were left following their last official inspection three weeks ago and whether general track maintenance in the past week might have affected them.

Why was the hi-tech train derailed?

Rail expert Michael Williams analyses the background to the crash;

Why did the crash happen?

The focus of the investigation is a fault in a set of points half a mile south of where the derailed train finally came to rest. Poorly maintained points were the cause of one of the most serious rail accidents in May 2002, when a train from King's Cross to King's Lynn came off the track in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, killing seven and injuring 76. The cause was a loose bolt, which caused the points to change as the train was passing over them.

But how could there be a problem with the track? Hasn't the Government spent a fortune upgrading the West Coast Main Line?

Yes. Nearly £9bn of taxpayers' money to be precise - a vast overrun on the original projection of less than £3bn. When the cash ran out, some of the renewals had to be postponed. Many argue that such a vast amount could have bought a brand new high-speed TGV-style line. Instead we have ended up with only a part-modernised line with high-speed trains running on track laid out in the Victorian era.

Could the driver have been going too fast for the track?

Unlikely. The three-year-old Pendolino trains are among the most sophisticated and best designed in the world. They are made to tilt to go round curves at 140mph, although in practice they are limited to 125mph. On-board computers apply the brakes if the tilt mechanism fails. Virgin says the train was travelling at 90mph.

What about Network Rail? Weren't we promised a new start on safety after the Hatfield accident?

In October 2000, an express was derailed at 115mph at Hatfield, killing four people. The cause was a broken rail, and almost the entire network was shut down, bankrupting Railtrack. Network Rail was formed and promised to improve safety, taking much of the track maintenance in-house and sacking firms like the one which failed to spot the broken rail at Hatfield. So far, its record has been good.

The damage to the train looks alarming. Why weren't more people hurt?

This is a tribute to the design of modern trains, where since the 1970s carriages have been built like a steel tube to prevent crumpling in accidents. The Pendolinos are electric, so there was no fuel to catch fire.

Is privatisation to blame?

It almost certainly will be. Even the Tories have admitted that the division of responsibilities for track and train operation was botched. Several accidents since then have been attributed to lack of co-ordination. Even though the cause of the Potters Bar disaster is known, none of the companies involved has accepted responsibility five years later.

Faulty points blamed for fatal rail crash

The Sunday Times: February 25, 2007
Dipesh Gadher and Steven Swinford

A FAULTY set of points was blamed last night for the Virgin Express train crash that killed a woman pensioner and injured 22 other passengers.

Network Rail began investigating up to 700 sets of similar points across Britain after police confirmed that points were at the centre of their investigation of Friday night’s crash in Cumbria.

Witnesses reported that nuts and bolts were missing from the points the London-Glasgow train passed over at 90mph before derailing and plunging down an embankment.

The rail expert Christian Wolmar said he understood that the points at the crash site in Grayrigg, near Kendal were in a similar condition to those in the 2002 Potters Bar crash, which killed seven people, with nuts missing and the stretcher bar between the rails loosened.

Last night Network Rail, the in-frastructure company responsible for maintaining the track, admitted that the points, which are deployed only to divert trains during engineering works, were not examined during a routine inspection of the track last Sunday. They were given a clean bill of health on February 11, however.

John Armitt, the company’s chief executive, said: “A points failure can be due to various causes. I have to live with the reality that it could be something that has gone wrong on our watch.” All points on high-speed lines, where trains travel in excess of 80mph, will now be checked. “It’s a stringent visual check to ensure all the components are in place and in working order,” said a spokesman for Network Rail. The line from Lancaster to Carlisle will be closed for up to a fortnight.

The dead woman, Margaret Masson, 84, had been travelling home to Glasgow with Margaret and Richard Langley, her daughter and son-in-law, who were seriously injured.

Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin boss, praised Iain Black, the train driver, as a hero for remaining in his cab in the minutes after the train derailed.

Posted on 09:02 AM | Permalink

BBC News: 25 February 2007

An inquiry is under way after a collision between a train and a car at a level crossing in west Wales.

No-one was injured in the crash

The incident happened at the Ffynnongain level crossing, near Whitland, in Carmarthenshire.

Arriva Trains said Saturday's 1909 GMT Pembrokeshire to Swansea service had been involved in the collision.

Emergency services were called to the scene but no injuries were reported. However, passengers on the train were assessed as a precaution.

Accident investigators have been called in and services west of Carmarthen have been suspended and replaced with bus and coach services.

The crash comes after a London to Glasgow high speed train derailed in Cumbria killing one passenger and leaving five others seriously injured on Friday evening.

Posted on 08:11 AM | Permalink

Reuters: Feb 24, 2007
By Allan Dowd

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - A tentative deal was reached on Saturday to end a two-week-old strike by about 2,800 Canadian National Railway Co. employees that had provoked a threat of government intervention.

The strike had hampered operations on Canada's largest railroad and forced shippers in the country's forestry, auto and chemical industries to curtail production. The federal government was threatening to order an end to the walkout next week.

The United Transportation Union said it was urging the striking freight train conductors and switchyard employees to return to their jobs pending a ratification vote next month, but that the strike would not be officially over until workers approved the deal.

"We are hopeful that this will greatly reduce the possibility of the Canadian government continuing to move forward on back-to-work legislation," the union negotiators said in a statement.

Montreal-based Canadian National said it was pleased to have reached an agreement, but declined to speculate on how many workers it expected to return before the ratification vote was completed on March 26.

"We have said all along to those who wish to come back that the company will put them back to work," railroad spokesman Mark Hallman said.

Canadian National had been using management crews to replace the striking workers, but shippers had complained the railroad was operating at only about half capacity.

Neither the company nor the union was releasing details of the agreement until they were provided to the workers, but a copy of the deal leaked over the Internet said it was a one-year contract with a 3 percent wage hike and C$1,000 ($860) bonus.

The previous contract expired at the end of 2006.

The unionized workers walked out on Feb. 10 in a dispute involving wages and work rules, including disciplinary policy and rest breaks.

Canadian National had been using management crews to replace the striking workers, but shippers had complained the railroad was operating at only about half capacity.

UNION INFIGHTING

The strike had sparked a public battle within the union that saw UTU's international headquarters in Cleveland replace its Canadian negotiators last week. The new negotiating team reached this deal.

The suspended negotiators were accused by the UTU of launching the walkout in a secret plan to have the Canadian workers join the rival Teamsters union, which already represents Canadian National's locomotive engineers.

Neither the company nor UTU officials would speculate on how the union's internal fight, and the Teamsters' efforts to solicit disgruntled UTU members, would affect the outcome of the ratification vote.

The union's negotiators said in a letter to the workers that because the government was threatening to to intervene, they were not about to deal with many of the demands for work- rule changes made before the strike.

The government's proposed back-to-work legislation would have allowed a federal arbitrator to decide the terms of a final contract, the union negotiators said in the letter that was leaked along with the proposed contract.

"We do believe that this tentative agreement if ratified will allow the union time to regroup and get back to the bargaining table in approximately seven months time and deal with outstanding issues," the negotiators said in a letter to UTU members.

Canadian National and the union had proposed three-year contracts before the strike began.

See also:

Deal reached to end CN Rail strike

Global Mail: 24/02/07

MONTREAL — CN and the United Transportation Union say they have reached a tentative deal to end a strike by 2,800 railway conductors and yard-service workers.

The union says it is maintaining its strike mandate but is urging its members to return to their jobs pending a ratification vote.

Results of the vote will not be available until near the end of March.

Union members will be mailed a copy of the tentative agreement along with a ballot on Monday, and they will have until March 26 to mail in their ballots. The ballots will be counted in Ottawa the same day.

"The 2,800 employees and members of the union, which are conductors and yard-service employees, remain on strike pending ratification," Mark Hallman, spokesman for CN management, told The Canadian Press late Saturday.

"We, at this time, continue to have management personnel filling in for striking UTU members, but, we do note that the union is urging its members to return to work during the ratification process and we're encouraged by that," said Hallman.

UTU spokesman Frank Wilner confirmed that the transit union would be encouraging its workers to return to work.

"We are asking our members to go back to work immediately," said Wilner.

CN continues to offer freight service with management personnel filling in for the strikers. Passenger and commuter train service have not been affected.

On Friday, the federal government tabled legislation ordering the striking employees back to work, warning of potential economic chaos from a walkout that has already hurt key industries.

Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn told the House of Commons that the strike couldn't be allowed to continue in the face of layoffs, backlogs and supply shortages throughout industry and in communities across the country.

MPs are scheduled to deal with the legislation this week.

Chief union negotiators John Armstrong and Robert Sharpe said in a release that they hope the union's call for workers to return to their jobs "will greatly reduce the possibility of the Canadian government continuing to move forward on back-to-work legislation until such time as the ratification process is completed and the results are known."

Federal Labour Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment.

Posted on 07:27 AM | Permalink

The Jamaica Observer: February 25, 2007

Highways and greater number of cars cast doubt on future of rail service.

Five years after investors - first the Indians, then the Chinese - submitted impressive plans to put Jamaica's moth-balled railway back on track, the country remains without a passenger rail service.

And it was beginning to appear at the weekend that the familiar dark and light blue locomotives of the Jamaica Railway Corporation (JRC), which excited school children as it drew into Balaclava and Catadupa stations, will no longer dot the rural landscape.

Both the Indians and the Chinese have blamed the Jamaican Government for foot-dragging, and officials at all the relevant state agencies skilfully ducked Sunday Observer efforts to determine what, if any, was the future of the rail service.

A rotting Jamaica Railway Corporation locomotive sits on the company's track downtown Kingston.

Calls to the JRC general manager, Owen Crooks, were referred to the Ministry of Transport. Then the questions to Permanent Secretary Dr Alwin Hayles of the transport ministry were in turn referred to the director of policy, Valerie Simpson, from where the newspaper was pointed to the Development Bank of Jamaica, to no avail.

"They are the people doing the negotiations," was the dismissive response. In the midst of the uncertainty, knowledgeable Sunday Observer sources suggested two compelling reasons for the lack of interest the Government was showing in reviving the passenger rail service.

First, commuter trains stopped running in Jamaica 15 years ago and coaches now lay rotting at the downtown Kingston station, yet the Jamaica Railway Corporation is still making a nice profit.

The JRC earns approximately J$40 million per year - the bulk of it from mining companies through track user fees for the hauling of alumina and bauxite.

The Kingston Railway Station head office at Darling Street, West Kingston.

"The balance of its earnings are derived primarily from the rental of real estate and its three operable locomotives," Leo McEwan, communication officer at the transport ministry confirmed.

So profitable is the corporation that it has continued to pay a staff of 76, who were retained when the JRC ceased commuter operations in 1992.

The staff fulfills contractual obligations to users of the facilities - real estate tenants and bauxite companies - although the wage bill figure of $1.6 million given to the Sunday Observer appeared minuscule.

The staff members include artisans, train controllers, track staff, technicians, administrative workers, accountants, secretaries and auxiliary workers. Engineers are employed when the need arises.
"Right now, they are earning their own keep and are responsible for their own operations," McEwan insisted.

According to the ministry, expenditure of the JRC has to be kept within earning, as the Corporation does not receive a subvention from the Government of Jamaica budget.

The JRC, as at December 2006, had a book value excluding land holdings, of $178.48 million, according to Ministry of Transport figures.

Wages made up 42 per cent of its expenditure; maintenance and rental accounted for 18 per cent and security cost was 15 per cent. The remaining 25 per cent is broken down for travel and subsistence at eight per cent; motor vehicles, three per cent; utilities at six per cent; professional fees, three per cent; staff welfare, one per cent; records management, one per cent; and a miscellaneous cost of two per cent.

Moreover, railway stations across the island have not been maintained and the JRC, with a total of 215 miles of railway, shares the maintenance of 59 miles of the operational lines with the bauxite companies. Lines not used for hauling bauxite ore are left unattended for the most part.

The ministry declined to reveal the exact amount that the JRC earned from the various bauxite companies for the use of its railway lines, saying that track user agreements between the JRC and individual bauxite companies were "confidential between the parties".

The Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI), the agency charged with overseeing activities in the bauxite industry, also refused to divulge any amount paid by bauxite companies to the JRC for the use of railway lines.

"These questions should be addressed to the Railway Corporation," the JBI said in an e-mail response.
The second reason for the Government's laissez faire attitude, one economist suggested, was uncertainty surrounding the viability of a commuter railway system, given the radical change in the transportation landscape since the closure of the JRC passenger service 15 years ago.

"The Highway 2000 project has made road travel more convenient and quicker, at least from Kingston to May Pen," the source said. "Additionally, with the advent of a new motor vehicle policy in 1997, the motor-car population has grown tremendously, reducing reliance on the public transportation system." Cargo transport, it is argued, is where the JRC could play a more significant role, both along the existing route, and with additional lines along the north coast.

The JRC, established under the Jamaica Railway Corporation Act, remains a corporate body and can transact rail-related business other than transporting passengers and cargo. It has the power to purchase, hold and dispose of land and other property of whatever kind for the purposes of this Act.

With complaints mounting about the poor public passenger transport system, the Government, in 1999, began talks with overseas investors regarding the privatisation of the JRC, starting with an India-based rail company.

The National Investment Bank of Jamaica (NIBJ), in January 2002, announced that negotiations with Rail India and Economic Services (RITES) were completed and work would begin soon.

But one year later, in 2003, India's top diplomat in Kingston suggested that the Jamaican Government was dragging its feet on the proposed joint venture.

Transport Minister Robert Pickersgill fired back, pointing the finger at the Indian consortium for the long stalemate, indicating that they were demanding far more than Jamaica was prepared to give.

In 2005, the Government, having apparently given up on the Indians, again signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the operation of the railway, this time with the Chinese.

The Chinese are now echoing the cry of the Indians, saying that the Jamaican Government is delaying the project that could see rail movement of cargo and passengers resumed in the island.

"People should be given the choice of the highway and railway. Some people don't like to drive long distances and some people don't have cars," the Chinese ambassador was quoted as saying in an Observer report late last year.

Posted on 07:21 AM | Permalink

BBC News: 24 February 2007

Up to 700 sets of points across the entire rail network are to be checked as a "precaution" following the Cumbria crash, Network Rail has said.

The front of the train doubled back on the carriages

Investigators earlier said the accident, in which a woman died, could have been caused by a points failure.

Experts are focusing on one set that the Virgin Trains Pendolino ran across before derailing near Kendal.

Rail expert Christian Wolmar told the BBC that the points could have been defective with loose nuts and bolts.

Margaret Masson, 84, of Glasgow, died and eight other people were seriously hurt when the London to Glasgow train derailed at Grayrigg, near Kendal, at about 95mph on Friday evening.

Network Rail said engineers had already started the nationwide safety checks of between 600 and 700 sets of points.

How crash unfolded

The checks are to be carried out on high-speed rail lines on older tracks where trains travel above 85 miles per hour.

Network Rail, which is responsible for maintaining track, hopes to complete the checks within the next 24 hours.

Christian Wolmar told BBC News 24 he understood the circumstances were thought to be similar to those in the Potters Bar crash.

In that crash, in May 2002, seven people died and 76 were injured when poorly maintained points derailed a train.

"From what I understand, they have found these points in a similar condition to those at Potters Bar, with some missing nuts and the stretcher bar which keeps the rails properly apart apparently loosened," he said.

"We are devastated by the death of our nan" - Margaret Jones, granddaughter of Margaret Masson

Family 'distraught'

Mr Wolmar said it was up to Network Rail to ensure that the points were properly maintained and that "things like loose bolts, loose bolts and nuts, were tightened up regularly".

He added: "But there is also the possibility that these nuts and bolts were maintained in the wrong way, or not sufficiently maintained, and that's why they were in that condition."

The chief executive of Network Rail, John Armitt, acknowledged that there might have been a points failure. He said the points were last serviced earlier this month, and that track maintenance was carried out by Network Rail employees.

Posted on 10:49 PM | Permalink

RMT: February 24 2007

THE ADEQUACY of engineering management systems must form a key part of the rail accident investigation following last night’s crash at Grayrigg, Britain’s biggest rail union said today.

RMT also said that there was a need to clear up the confusion that was emerging over the points at the centre of the investigation.

"The type of points concerned, known as a 'ground frame', would only be used to switch traffic in an emergency or during an engineering possession and we understand that they had not been operated since February 15," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said.

"They would not in any case be operated from the signal box, but would be operated locally, but only after being given permission and being released by the signal box.

"It is important to understand that rail traffic had been running over these points for more than a week since they were last operated.

"The rail accident investigation must be allowed to establish the facts, and it is unhelpful for fingers to be pointed at signallers, engineering staff or anyone else.

"It is also vitally important that the adequacy of management systems is a part of the investigation, not least because of the fragmentation of engineering work that still afflicts our railways," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 07:26 PM | Permalink

RMT: February 24 2007

RICHARD BRANSON’S suggestion today that responsibility for maintaining tracks could be transferred to private train operators is the complete reverse of what is needed, Britain’s biggest rail union says today.

The Virgin boss said today after visiting the crash site at Grayrigg that the transfer of tracks to the private operators should be debated in the wake of the tragedy.

"The idea of divvying up the tracks among the private train operators fills me with horror," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"The privateers like to call this idea vertical integration, but the reality is that it would mean more fragmentation, and it is fragmentation that is at the heart of the railways' problems.

"It is bad enough that there are still contractors, sub-contractors, labour-only agencies and one-man-and-a-trolley outfits let loose on the tracks under Network Rail

"Trains and tracks should be operated by the same organisation, but that organisation should be publicly owned and controlled - maybe we could call it British Rail.

"Handing the track network to the private sector was bad enough when it was done by a single organisation, but splitting it up and handing it to a host of operators whose sole aim is to make a profit would be a recipe for further disaster," Bob Crow said.

ends

Posted on 07:24 PM | Permalink

RMT: February 24 2007

BRITAIN’S BIGGEST rail union today expressed its horror at last night’s rail crash on the West Coast Main Line near Grayrigg.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow last night visited the crash site alongside regional organiser John Tilley and the union's local official and managed to speak to emergency services and RMT members.

"Our immediate thoughts must be with the family of the passenger who has died, and with the injured and traumatised passengers and rail staff," Bob Crow said this morning.

"This is a truly horrendous accident and it must be amazing good fortune that with carriages having slid or rolled down the embankment there have not been more fatalities and serious injuries.

"There is a very high viaduct only a short distance from the crash site and the consequences of the derailment happening there do not bear thinking about.

"From the information we have been able to piece together so far there must be strong suspicion that the immediate cause is a points failure, although of course the rail accident inquiry must be allowed to ascertain the full facts.

"If points failure is the cause then there must be a robust investigation into the management systems failings that led to it and there must be no attempt simply to scapegoat staff," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 10:50 AM | Permalink

Reuters: Feb 24, 2007

LONDON - Investigators probed the cause of a high-speed train accident in northwest England which killed an elderly woman and seriously injured five other people.

The state-of-the-art Virgin Pendolino tilting train, heading from London to Glasgow, derailed at 95 mph (150 kph) shortly after 8 p.m. on Friday in a remote area of Cumbria and a number of carriages slid down an embankment.

Emergency workers had to battle difficult conditions including torrential rain to try and reach around 120 passengers, some of whom were trapped in the overturned carriages.

Police later said one elderly woman had died and 22 people were injured, including five who had been seriously hurt.

Asked about the cause of the crash, Police Superintendent John Rush told a news conference: "We are unsure how that exactly has happened."

The leader of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union, Bob Crow, said it was thought a points failure was to blame.

"It's not vandalism and it's certainly not a cow," he told Sky News. "There's been some kind of points failure, what the reason is for that points failure we don't know."

Rush said the line would be closed for up to six days while investigations were carried out.

"You were suddenly aware of a jolt and the train started swaying really quite dramatically," BBC executive Caroline Thomson, a passenger, told BBC News 24 Television. She said the train then flipped over and came to rest on its side.

"The emergency vehicles are coming up and there are a lot of flashing lights. One carriage is lying quite dramatically ... off the line," she said from the scene, in farmland near the town of Kendal on the edge of the Lake District.

Royal Air Force Sea king helicopters ferried the injured to hospital. Twelve ambulances and 80 firefighters were rushed to the scene of the crash.

A Virgin spokesman told Sky News: "This is the first incident involving a Pendolino train and we have to very quickly understand why this has happened." But he said there was no question of withdrawing the trains from service.

The Pendolino (Italian for "tilting") was developed in Italy by Fiat Ferroviaria, which was bought by French firm Alstom in 2000. Virgin uses Pendolinos on its mainline routes.

Virgin Trains is 49 percent-owned by bus and train operator Stagecoach Group Plc and 51 percent by Richard Branson's Virgin Group.

See also:

One dead in Cumbria train crash

BBC News: 24 February 2007

Part of the train is left raised in the air at a sharp angle

An elderly woman has died and five other passengers have been seriously hurt in a train derailment in Cumbria.

Several carriages were left on their side after a Virgin London to Glasgow service crashed at Grayrigg, near Kendal, at 2015 GMT, at about 95mph.

Police said 22 people went to hospital and dozens more were "walking wounded".

Investigators say no cause has yet been established, but police said their inquiry was focusing on a set of points which could be "significant".

Rail union chief Bob Crow had earlier said he had been told the accident was because of a points failure.

"It's very sad to see such an incident on what has become a very safe network" - Ibrahim, Bolton

One of the passengers, BBC executive Caroline Thomson, said the train "did a sort of bump".

"It suddenly appeared to hit something and then lurched very, very badly from side to side in a very dramatic way."

The train had about 120 people on board, Supt Jon Rush, of Cumbria Police, told a news conference.

He said 22 passengers had been taken to three hospitals. The Royal Lancaster Infirmary and the Royal Preston Hospital took the most serious casualties. A total of five people had serious injuries.

Police are still trying to establish the identity of the passenger who was killed, but they said she was an elderly female.

The line where the crash happened could be closed for five or six days, said Supt Rush. He added that investigators were trying to establish the cause of the crash.

The leader of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union, Bob Crow, told ITV News: "All our indications are that people on the scene are saying that it was a points failure.

"And I think people can dismiss the idea that it was a cow on the track or vandalism."

The train came to rest after rolling down an embankment

All but one of the train's carriages had totally come off the tracks, a Cumbria Ambulance Service spokeswoman said.

Speaking at just after midnight she added that all nine train carriages had been cleared of passengers.

She said there were 65 people with minor injuries who were treated at the scene and a nearby farm, before being taken to the Castle Green Hotel in Kendal.

Emergency crews said they faced difficult conditions, with pouring rain, waterlogged ground and narrow country lanes around the crash site.

'Very strange sound'

The Pendolino tilting trains have been introduced by Virgin over the last three years and have a top speed of 125 mph.

Network Rail said the line speed for the area where the crash took place was about 95 mph.

Virgin Trains have suspended services between Lancaster and Lockerbie, with replacement buses operating. Trains are running as normal to and from Lockerbie, and between London and Lancaster.

A spokesman said passengers travelling between Scotland and London could use GNER East Coast trains instead.

CONTACT NUMBERS
Cumbria Police helpline: 0800 056 0146
Police family liaison centre: 0800 40 50 40
National Rail Enquiries: 08457 48 49 50

Those living close to the site described hearing the crash.

Adam Pashley, 19, said: "It was one hell of a bang but I never thought it would be a serious incident.

"About 15 minutes later I was looking out of my bedroom window and suddenly I started to see police and ambulance crews."

Donald Potter said: "My house is only about 120 yards from the track and I was sitting at my desk when I heard a very strange sound, it was completely unidentifiable, like nothing I have ever heard before, and lasted for about ten seconds."

People worried about friends or relatives on the train are asked to ring a Cumbria Police helpline on 0800 056 0146 or a British Transport Police family liaison centre on 0800 40 50 40.

Passengers wanting to travel through Cumbria, meanwhile, can ring National Rail Enquiries on 08457 48 49 50 before starting journeys.

See also:

Inquiry Focuses On Points

Sky News: February 24, 2007

Scene of the derailment

An investigation into a train derailment in Cumbria which left one elderly woman dead is focusing on a set of points.

The London to Glasgow Virgin service came off the tracks at 95 miles an hour - the lead engine first followed by the remaining eight.

A total of 22 passengers were taken to hospital. One, an 80-year-old woman, died and five remain in a serious condition.

The accident happened near Little Docker Cottage, around the area of Grayrigg, near Kendal, at around 20:10 last night, and there were an estimated 120 people on board.

Many were able to free themselves and suffered shock and minor injuries.

Chief Superintendent Martyn Ripley, of British Transport Police, said: "It's little short of a miracle, we're amazed that we didn't have fatalities at the scene. We've been very, very fortunate.

Five people are seriously injured

He added: "We believe a set of points could be significant in this inquiry but we won't be releasing any more details on that until much later in the inquiry."

Mr Ripley said it was far too early to tell exactly what had happened and that it would be easier for officers to conduct their inquiries in the daylight.

No further details about the dead woman's identity would be released until next of kin had been informed.

Mr Ripley confirmed that routine maintenance had been carried out in the past week on the section of track where the train derailed.

But, at this stage, it is not thought to be a factor in the derailment.

Superintendent Jon Rush, from Cumbria Police said: "The initial assessment looks like the carriages have just left the rail line and fallen down the embankment and it looks like the main engine at the front has almost doubled back on itself."

Maintenance work had been carried out on the tracks

A Department for Transport spokesman said: "Inspectors from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch are on site and have begun their investigation into the causes of the crash."

Emergency crews were initially delayed as the track was electrified and they had to work in dark, wet conditions to reach those trapped.

Alan Rawsthorne, an area manager with the local fire service, said that the carriages of the train stayed together, as they were designed to do, and did not break up.

Virgin Train regional director Chris Coleman added: "Our services use high powered trains and they are very safe and a speed of 95mph at that point on the line is what it should be doing.

"Ordinarily that is very safe. We are shocked and very keen to find out how at that speed this train has come off the track in such tragic circumstances."

Early estimates suggest that the track will remain closed for five or six days.

The emergency telephone number for people concerned about passengers and wanting to know where they are is 0800 056 0146 or, from outside the UK, 0044 207 158 0198.

Posted on 08:37 AM | Permalink

City News: February 21, 2007

The Canadian federal government is preparing legislation that would order striking Canadian National employees back to work.

The nearly-two-week-old labour action is putting the country's economy in jeopardy, Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn contends, saying he plans to table a law that would get the rail company back on track.

"I contacted both parties to inform them that the situation couldn't continue, that Canada's economy is being severely affected . . . that they only had a few hours left before Parliament would act," Blackburn told the House of Commons.

"Our legislation is ready."

Such a vote likely wouldn't happen before Thursday.

The strike has had wide-ranging effects across the country, notably on the West Coast where certain remote communities aren't getting the supplies they need.

"There is a big problem in the Port of Vancouver. It's a mess over there. Some cities don't receive food and some remote cities don't receive food and fuel and we have problem in the chemical sector, automobile sector, grain sector, a lot, also forestry sector," the minister added.

"We cannot let the situation go further. We have to act."

The effects were also felt in the GTA, where some Esso stations are out of gasoline.

The United Transport Union refused to voluntarily return to work Tuesday for a 60-day cooling-off period, arguing it wants to reach a deal for its members.

"We have told the mediator that the UTU will not accept the cooling-off period," said union spokesman Frank Wilner.

"We want Canadian National to negotiate a reasonable agreement that can be taken to our members and be ratified."

Wilner wouldn't speculate on the possibility of CN employees being ordered back to work, suggesting the minority Conservatives might have an uphill battle in getting such legislation passed.

"Our understanding is that they don't have the votes and they could wind up having to call new elections if they fail," he said.

CN spokesperson Mark Hallman said he'd prefer the two sides to hammer out a settlement. Company and union negotiators returned to the bargaining table Wednesday after talks failed to reach a deal earlier this week.

"We think the best way is for the two parties themselves to reach an accommodation," he noted.

Talks between the two sides broke off on February 9 after CN apparently didn't agree to a union demand of pay raises of 4.5, 4.5, and 4 per cent over the next three years. CN workers earn on average $75,000 annually, with a fourth making more than $90,000.

Back-to-work legislation has been approved by Ottawa 31 times since 1950, including six times in the rail industry. The most recent occurrence was more than a decade ago, in 1995.

See also:

Ottawa set to proceed to end CN strike

Financial Post: February 21, 2007
Paul Vieira

OTTAWA -- The federal Conservative government is poised to notify Parliament Wednesday that it intends to proceed with legislation that would end the 12-day strike at Canadian National Railway Co. that is playing havoc with the country’s economy.

Jean-Pierre Blackburn, the federal Labour Minister, told reporters he would be making a statement this afternoon. Peter Van Loan, the Conservative House Leader, said passage of the back-to-work bill would depend on the co-operation of the Opposition parties.

Both the Bloc Qubcois and NDP have indicated that would not support such legislation. Liberal Leader Stphane Dion, however, was non-committal about his party’s support, saying he would need to see the bill.

Striking CN rail workers picketed on Tuesday, February 20, 2007.

The Montreal-based railway and the United Transportation Union -- representing the 2,800 conductors and yard works who are off the job -- extended negotiations today after failing to secure a deal last night.

Mr. Blackburn has appointed a labour mediator, Elizabeth MacPherson, to help the two sides reach a consensus.

The strike has slowed down the railway's operations and caused shipment delays for customers. CN managers have been filling in for striking workers.

The Canadian Wheat Board, for instance, said it is paying US$300,000 a day just to keep ships waiting for grain at anchor off the West Coast, while companies that ship everything from chemicals to forestry products have suffered delays.

Chuck Strahl, the federal Agriculture Minister, said there is much concern from grain growers and other commodity exporters about the strike. He warned the NDP that attempts to delay passage could come back to haunt the left-wing party when it goes campaigning in the Prairie provinces during the next election.

“My hope is that rational heads prevail,” the Minister said. “If the NDP thinks they can oppose this when it is costing farmers US$300,0000, and to go back to the farmers and tell them to suck it up -- well, that’s unacceptable. And the farmers will say that. I am sure they will.”

The last time back-to-work legislation was introduced to end a labour dispute was in 1999. But that was under a majority Liberal government. The mid-1960s was the last time strike-ending legislation was tabled in the House of Commons under a minority government. Based on historical precedent it it could take anywhere between several days and two weeks before workers return to work under a minority Parliament.

See also:

Return-to-work order possible in CN strike

The Chronicle Herald: February 24, 2007
By STEPHEN THORNE The Canadian Press

“ It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees. ” - Dolores Ibarruri

Union, company return to mediation

OTTAWA — Company officials and negotiators representing 2,800 striking CN Rail workers returned to mediated bargaining Wednesday with the spectre of a legislated return to work looming over a dispute that government fears could cripple the economy.

Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn gave official notice that he would table legislation within 48 hours ordering the employees back to their jobs.

"We want to be sure that the population realizes that we are serious," Blackburn said outside the House of Commons. "We cannot let the economy (fall victim to) this situation.

"We urge the parties to get an agreement as soon as possible. If nothing happens, we have to act. This is so important for our economy."

Blackburn said companies are already closing down, limiting shifts or laying off workers due to the lack of access to markets and supply. He said the dispute has so far cost the Port of Vancouver $750 million.

For manufacturers like Intertape Polymer of Truro, the strike has meant hardship.

"We’re losing money, our employees are losing money — it’s just a lose-lose situation for everyone," said Silvano Iaboni, operations manager with Intertape Polymer Group.

The plant makes polyolefin plastic and paper-based packaging products and employs 350 people in this area.

"We’re running out of raw material for our product," said Iaboni.

The plant would usually receive three boxcars full of raw resin three times a week.

"CN delivered four boxcars last night (Tuesday) but we need more frequent shipments," Iaboni said.

"I have to say the CN managers are doing their best — I sympathize with them but this is costing us money and the strike is putting a competitive strain on a company in Nova Scotia."

The plant has been getting raw material shipped in by truck, but Mr. Iaboni said it just isn’t enough.

"We’re hoping for back-to-work legislation — we’re hoping it passes through Parliament," he said.

"We’ll be in another desperate situation by Monday."

Frank Wilner, a spokesman for the United Transportation Union, said union representatives rejected a company request to send the conductors and yard-service workers back to work voluntarily while the two sides discussed the key bargaining issues of safety, working conditions and wages.

Union divisions appeared to bedevil the process.

With the dispute’s effects rippling throughout industry, at seaports and in isolated communities across the country, some striking workers were said to be turned away at the gates of several CN railyards Wednesday after a former negotiator, Rex Beatty, declared the walkout had been suspended.

Beatty claimed the decision came in response to requests by Blackburn and chief mediator Elizabeth MacPherson in order to avoid back-to-work legislation after the Canada Industrial Relations Board ruled Monday that the strike was legal.

"We have called upon all our members to effect an orderly return to work," Beatty said in a statement. "Back-to-work legislation would have a devastating effect on labour relations on the railway.

"Now that our strike has been ruled lawful, we are prepared to get the trains running again immediately. We need a last chance to reach a fair settlement in free collective bargaining with CN. The ball is in CN’s court."

But Beatty’s union bosses in Washington say they relieved him of his duties as chief negotiator two days earlier.

Two Canadian vice-presidents of the union, John Armstrong and Robert Sharpe, were appointed in his place and given "full authority to either keep the pickets out or to agree to a cooling-off period."

They rejected the concept of a cooling-off period Tuesday, said union spokesman Frank Wilner.

Wilner accused Beatty, who could not be reached for comment, of misrepresenting his role in the contract talks, and that the union would go to court to stop him from doing so.

Posted on 08:07 AM | Permalink

Jerusalem Post: Feb. 22, 2007
By SHARON WROBEL

After negotiations between union representatives and Israel Railways management reached a temporary understanding, trains were set to resume their operations.

According to Army Radio, further negotiations would take place next week.

The Israel Railways union called a one-day "warning strike" throughout the country for Friday, after months of talks over new wage agreements between workers and the management failed.

The Egged bus company said it would operate more buses along the train routes to meet demand.

"Following months of negotiations without success over organizational changes, which are also delaying new wage agreements, we see no other choice than to launch a one-day 'warning strike' on Friday," Micha Chayun, chairman of the Israel Railways union, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday. The last wage agreements expired at the end of 2005. "We don't want to punish or hurt the public and therefore we chose Friday, which is a quieter working day."

The Israel Railways workers are also protesting planned lay-offs as part of the railway privatization process.

Meanwhile, the Histadrut is to convene talks on Sunday morning with public sector unions and committees to consider a possible general strike action next week, which would affect government offices, local municipalities, ports and other public services.

"About 40 local authorities and religious councils are still depriving their employees of wages and pension payments despite three months of hearings at the National Labor Court between the labor federation, and the Finance and Interior Ministries," said the Histadrut spokesperson. "The National Labor Court has not been able to find a viable solution to the problem of postponed salary payments for municipal workers and thus we are considering union action."

Furthermore, university students groups, with support from the lecturers' union, announced Thursday that they will go on strike on Sunday, the day the academic year's second semester is due to begin. The students are protesting the composition of the Shochat Committee, which is meant to examine the future of higher education.

Lecturers and student groups are not represented on the committee, which the student groups regard as a rubber-stamp for the Finance Ministry plan to "privatize" higher education.

On Thursday, high schools across the country were closed for a Secondary School Teachers Organization protest at untenably "drawn out" negotiations over wage agreements with the Finance and Education Ministries. Teachers unions have been threatening for months to completely shut down the educational system if the Finance Ministry remains steadfast in its refusal to negotiate a collective salary agreement for teachers.

As of Thursday evening, the Secondary School Teachers Organization had not announced further strike action.

Also on Thursday evening, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz and Israel Railways had urged the railway workers and the Histadrut Labor Federation to call off the strike. "Every issue in dispute can be solved by talking," said Mofaz.

Israel Railways said that intensive negotiations with the railway workers and the Histadrut were continuing. "But until now, the sides have not come to an understanding, and the workers and the union did not respond to our request to cancel the strike action," Israel Railways said in a statement. "We can not explain the stubbornness of the workers other than being influenced by an array of work disputes in the economy."

This was an apparent reference to recent strikes at the ports and the Israel Electric Corporation.

Posted on 07:24 PM | Permalink

Portsmouth Today: 22 February 2007

A RAIL maintenance company has been fined £180,000 for breaching health and safety laws related to an accident where a Fareham worker was electrocuted on the line.

Balfour Beatty Rail Infrastructure Services Limited was also ordered to pay £73,602.41 costs at Winchester Crown Court, when the company pleaded guilty to a breach of section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

It admitted it had failed to ensure so far as reasonably practicable the health, safety and welfare at work of its employee Jason Pepall.

Mr Pepall, 29, from Fareham, was employed as a lookout during work on the railway at Oakley, near Basingstoke, on August 7, 2003.

He was electrocuted when he came into contact with live rails. Mr Pepall was employed by McGinley Recruitment Services Limited, under contract to Balfour Beatty.

At the time of the accident workers were allowed to change insulators on live conductor rails, but since the death of Mr Pepall that practice has ended.

Speaking after the case, Steven Bliss, the Deputy Chief Inspector of Railways, said: 'This should have been avoided. As a result, new procedures were put in place.

'ORR are fully supportive of these changes and will work with our industry partners to improve health and safety.'

The prosecution was brought by the Office of Rail Regulation.

Posted on 04:14 PM | Permalink

Transport Briefing: 23/02/07

Network Rail is to commission a feasibility study looking at options for improving train services on the Cotswold Line between Oxford and Worcester. The move follows a series of meetings with stakeholders and regional MPs this week.

The study will examine options for improving train performance and allowing an hourly service. Large sections of track were singled in the 1960s and 1970s. Today only 10 miles of double track remain on the 51-mile route.

Options to be examined will include the possibility of redoubling some or all of the three single line sections of track between Oxford and Worcester and the case for line speed improvements to reduce journey times and allow a more flexible timetable to be introduced. The feasibility study will also consider the implication for stations - for example requirements for new platforms, footbridges and compliance with accessibility legislation – signalling improvements necessary to support the redoubling options and the capability of the route to handle rail freight.

Robbie Burns, Network Rail route director said: "Network Rail is committed to growing the railway in Britain, and we are well aware of the aspirations of passengers and stakeholders along the Cotswold route. This study is important and will provide us with the necessary detail to make informed decisions on what options are possible, and affordable."

The £150k cost of the study will be funded by Network Rail and is expected to report in autumn this year. Any final decision on what improvements will be implemented would be based on the cost, deliverability and value for money of each option. Implementation of the recommendations could be delivered by 2010, subject to securing the necessary funding.

Posted on 03:31 PM | Permalink

Financial Times: February 23 2007
By Robert Wright, Transport Correspondent

The company upgrading two-thirds of the London Underground will today announce a fundamental change to the way it does business, as it seeks to overcome problems that have seen it fall seriously behind schedule in some areas of work.

The Metronet consortium will say it is awarding £150m of work on six stations to outside contractors for the first time, to speed up work and control costs. It will add that it intends to put contracts for work on a further 78 stations out to tender.

Metronet has previusly given work only to its shareholders - WS Atkins, Balfour Beatty, Bombardier Transportation, EDF Energy and Thames Water. Tubelines the consortium upgrading the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines - the only ones not covered by Metronet - puts all work out to competitive tender and has performed far better.

Metronet's policy change follows heavy criticism of the slow start to its programme to upgrade and renew large parts of the underground network, especially stations. By March 31 last year, the company had delivered only 14 of 35 scheduled station upgrades or renewals, although it has now completed 32 and hopes to have 40 of scheduled 43 done by the end of March.

In November, Chris Bolt, who arbitrates on implementation of the 30-year public-private partnership programme under which Metronet operates, ruled the consortium was not operating economically and efficiently.

The ruling could leave Metronet's shareholders footing the bill for nearly all the projected £750m of cost overruns in Metronets' contracts first 7½ years, up to October 2010.

If the company were operating economically and efficiently, many of the costs could be passed to London Underground, the public sector company that operates the underground.

Andrew Lezala, Metronet's chief executive, pointed out that Mr Bolt's November report had blamed some of Metronet's problems on its insistence on awarding all contracts to shareholders.

"That's why we're seeking ... to develop third party suppliers to help acccelerate our programme further and to ensure we are economic and efficient," he said.

Metronet will hope that the move towards competitive tendering might persuade Mr Bolt to change his views on whether the company is efficient. It is expected to argue that, if all work has been put out to a public tender, the winning bid must be at an economic and efficient price.

London Underground said it welcomed any effort to improve delivery of Metronet's station renewals programme, under which nearly every underground station should have been improved by 2010.

"It is vital that the upgrades planned for the network, including stations, are delivered on time and on budget," it said.

Of the six projects going to outside contractors, two - Westbourne Park and Sloane Square - have been awarded to YJL Infrastructure; two others - Moor Park and Rickmansworth - will be handled by Cleshar Contract Services, while Baker Street will be handled by Taylor Woodrow and Embankment by Costain Group.

Posted on 10:30 AM | Permalink

RMT: February 22 2007

CLEANING CONTRACTOR ISS has withdrawn the threat of compulsory redundancies against cleaners on its Tubelines contract after last-ditch talks with London Underground’s biggest union.

The RMT executive has today suspended a strike ballot of members at ISS which was scheduled to begin next week. Further talks with the company will take place shortly to resolve outstanding issues.

"Substantial progress was made at fresh talks with ISS over the last couple of days, and the company has today confirmed that there will be no compulsory redundancies of cleaners on the Tubelines contract," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"That is obviously very good news for our members and their families and a victory for common sense all round.

"The RMT executive has therefore agreed that the strike ballot due to begin next week be suspended, and that further talks should take place with ISS to deal with any outstanding issues," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 10:01 AM | Permalink

Reuters: Feb 22, 2007
By Nick Carey

CHENOA, Illinois - Conductor Ed Kavanaugh is weary.

Not because of the biting wind and driving snow, or the oppressive roar of the locomotive as it rumbles across America's agricultural heartland. Not even because it's a 14-hour day. It goes much deeper than that -- he is nearing the end of the line.

"I've been working for the railroads since 1974," the 57-year-old Kavanaugh said, brushing snow off his jacket as he steps into the locomotive cab. "When I turn 60, I'm gone."

"And I can't wait!" he added with a laugh.

Like thousands of aging U.S. railroad workers, Kavanaugh and locomotive engineer Phil Tidwell, 60, have met or will soon meet the legal requirements allowing them to retire after 30 years on the rails.

A day with these two men on the TPW -- the Toledo, Peoria & Western railroad, a 369-mile stretch of track run by Fortress Investment Group unit RailAmerica Inc., owner of around 47 U.S. and Canadian "short lines" -- illustrates the daunting task U.S. railroads face in replacing thousands of veteran workers.

"We started hiring aggressively around four years ago," said Wick Moorman, Chief Executive Officer of railroad Norfolk Southern Corp. "We're trying to get enough experienced people out on the tracks so we can cope."

For 20 years after deregulation in 1980, U.S. railroads mostly cut staff and did little hiring. But now business is booming thanks to rising U.S. imports, soaring demand for coal from utilities, plus increased ethanol shipments. The railroads have hired thousands to handle that business, but they must also teach a new generation of employees to operate the trains -- a tricky and hazardous job.

On this particular day, Tidwell and Kavanaugh depart East Peoria in central Illinois with 47 rail cars stretching more than half a mile behind them, making stops to drop off hundreds of tons of soybeans or corn gluten meal, plus picking up empty cars for delivery elsewhere.

It's well below freezing, with winds gusting up to 30 miles an hour by the time they turn around in Fairbury, 60 miles east of their starting point. The snow falls almost horizontally.

"Life on the railroad looks to many youngsters like fun," said Kavanaugh as he climbed into the warm cab, face reddened by the wind and glasses fogged over from the temperature change. "But their first cold spell like this they want to go home to Mom."

Like many rail workers themselves, rail analyst Tony Hatch of New York-based ABH Consulting describes the job as an "outdoor sport."

"Replacing this aging workforce will be a significant challenge for the railroads," he said.

But Hatch and some investors say the railroads have taken the problem seriously enough and are taking the right steps.

TRICKS OF THE TRADE

With combined experience of 71 years, Tidwell and Kavanaugh understand each other well -- though they have only worked together for two weeks.

At one point, Kavanaugh is nearly swept off the back of the train by low-hanging branches as he guides Tidwell into a siding.

But his voice on the radiophone, while loud enough to be heard over the wind, shows little alarm: "That'll do, that'll do."

Tidwell hits the brake immediately, and the train grinds to a halt.

A typical stop is the town of Chenoa, about 45 miles from East Peoria, where the crew drop off 10 cars of corn gluten meal, a livestock feed before hooking up five empties.

The sulfurous rotten-egg smell of a sewage treatment plant hangs in the air as Kavanaugh makes his way slowly in a perfect duck walk, toes sticking outward in the snow and loose stones of the rail bed.

"If you're not careful, it's easy to get hurt out here," he says.

Kavanaugh advises against being in too much of a rush, as it is unsafe and makes you sweat.

"If you sweat, you're wet," he said. "If you then get cold, you can't work."

Tidwell loves trains, he says, as he smokes in the locomotive cab, calmly following Kavanaugh's radio instructions as they shunt cars in and out of sidings.

A native of Wyoming, Tidwell is one of five "floating" engineers at RailAmerica, whose job it is to plug gaps in the workforce while the company seeks replacement engineers. With 38 years' experience, he is eligible for retirement, but remains one of a tiny minority who stay on.

Michael Ward, CEO of railroad CSX Corp., said the company plans to hire 1,000 workers in 2007, but adds "with attrition, our headcount (of 36,000) will remain almost unchanged."

Don Hodges of the Dallas-based Hodges Fund, which manages assets of roughly $1 billion and holds shares in U.S. railroads Union Pacific Corp., Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp., Norfolk Southern and Canadian National Railway Co., said railroads have "had difficulty hiring crews."

"But I'm confident the railroads are doing what it takes to address this problem," Hodges said.

Posted on 09:21 AM | Permalink

Xinhua: February 23, 2007

Railway unionists in Cracow, a city of southern Poland, blocked traffic in the city's Central Station, demanding higher pay and better work conditions.

Negotiations on wages between rail unions and the Polish railways management have been under way for months.

Henryk Sikora, the railway section head of the Solidarity Union, told the Polish news agency PAP that the 2-hour blockade was a reaction to the slow progress of the talks.

Unionists have threatened with countrywide railway blockades next week should the Friday talks bring no result.

Posted on 09:03 AM | Permalink

Asia Times: Feb 24, 2007
By Syed Fazl-e-Haider

QUETTA, Pakistan - Islamabad on Monday awarded a Rs72 million (US$1.2 million) contract to an international consortium to carry out a feasibility study for establishing a rail link with China to boost trade relations between the two countries.

The study will cover a 750-kilometer section between Havellian and the 4,730-meter-high Khunjerab crossing over Mansehra district and the Karakoram Highway. Havellian is already linked with the rest of the rail network in Pakistan; the Chinese will lay track within their territory up to Khunjerab, linking Pakistan with China's rail network.

By expanding its stake in Pakistan's rail sector, China is poised to exploit the country's advantageous geographical position - strategically located at the confluence of South, Central and West Asia.

Beijing's involvement in several rail projects in Pakistan is motivated primarily by commercial considerations, but it also sees distinct advantages for its improved transportation and access to Central Asia and the Persian Gulf states. A reliable network of road and rail links can only ensure China's access to energy-rich central Asia, serving it both commercially and strategically.

In the first week of this month, Pakistan Railways and China's Dong Fang Electric Supply Corp signed an agreement for establishing a rail link between Havellian and Khunjerab. Ingenieurgemeinschaft Lasser-Feizlmayr (ILF), a consortium of consultant engineers from Austria, Germany and Pakistan, is to submit its report to the Ministry of Railways in nine months. It is most likely that the distance between Havellian and Khunjerab will involve the construction of tunnels. The ILF services encompass both the construction of new high-speed railway lines and the modernization of existing lines for standard-gauge and narrow-gauge railways in addition to tunnels.

China is actively involved in the development of Pakistan Railways and for the past five years it has been increasing its stake in the country's communication sector. Pakistan Railways is a state-owned company that provides an important mode of transportation in the furthest corners of the country. It has been a great integrating force and forms the lifeline of the country by catering to its needs for large-scale movement of people. The freight-passenger earnings comprise 50% of the railway's total revenue. Pakistan Railways carries 65 million passengers annually and operates 228 mail, express and passenger trains daily. It introduced new mail and express trains between major terminals from 2003 to 2005.

Pakistan Railways has recently entered several agreements with Chinese railway companies for its development. In 2001, Pakistan Railways signed a $91.89 million contract with China National Machinery Import and Export Corp for the manufacture of 175 new high-speed passenger coaches. The project was funded by Exim Bank China on a supplier credit basis. Forty completely built passenger coaches have been received and 105 will be assembled in Pakistan Railways' carriage factory by next December.

These coaches are being used on Pakistan Railways' mail and express trains from Rawalpindi-Lahore-Karachi, Lahore-Faisalabad and Rawalpindi-Quetta. The manufacturing kits for the remaining 30 coaches have also been received and manufacturing is in progress. With 12 already assembled, the project is scheduled to be completed by next month. The passenger coaches are of the latest design and are equipped with disc brakes. The technology transfer for these coaches has been obtained from China's Chang Chun Car Co.

Under an agreement signed with China in 2003, Pakistan Railways purchased 69 locomotives, of which 15 were delivered as completely built units and are in use by Pakistan Railways. The remaining 54 are to be built at Pakistan Railways' locomotive factory. The Chinese locomotives are 37% cheaper than the European locomotives.

Some in Pakistan have been criticizing the faulty locomotives purchased by Pakistan Railways from Dong Fang Electric Corp of China. It is surprising that last year, Pakistan Railways decided to purchase 45 more 2,000-3,000-horsepower locomotives from the same company. The company is willing to redesign the already-delivered 30 locomotives of the original order, such that the underframe is strengthened and the weight reduced to less than 140 tons. Last year, as a result of an open bidding, a Chinese company, Beijing Research and Design Institute, is committed to providing 300 rail cars to Pakistan Railways.

Under another agreement signed in 2004 with China National Machinery and Equipment Group, the Chinese company is to undertake the construction of Corridor 1 of a light-rail mass-transit system for Karachi that is intended to serve 4 million commuters. The project will cost about $568 million and take four and a half years to complete. The contract has been awarded on a build-operate-transfer basis and comprises five corridors.

Pakistan signed a series of agreements with China during the past three years to enhance the capability of its railway system. Under an agreement signed between Pakistan and China Railway, a Chinese company will provide 1,300 freight cars to Pakistan Railways, of which 420 will be manufactured in China and the remaining 880 will be produced at the Moghalpura railway workshops in Lahore.

Under another project, 450 passenger coaches will be rehabilitated at an estimated cost of Rs2.14 billion. The project also includes the conversion of 40 coaches into air-conditioned cars and the conversion of 10 power vans. Furthermore, there is a provision of 100 new high-speed bogies, 30 of which will be imported from China, while 70 will be manufactured locally on a transfer-of-technology basis. Under a separate agreement, 175 new passenger coaches are being purchased from China.

As part of a $100 million agreement signed between Pakistan and China in November 2001, China is to export 69 modern locomotive engines to Pakistan to modernize Pakistan's railway fleet. The first eight engines have been completed and are ready for shipment to Karachi. The new engines consume less fuel than older models and are cheaper to maintain. The main feature of this deal is that the first 15 engines will be manufactured in China and the remainder will be assembled in Pakistan, with spare parts and technology provided by China. Similarly, for a Rs7.2 billion railway project in Sindh province involving laying 78,000 tons of rails, China delivered 64,000 tons to Pakistan Railways.

As a part of its development plan for its transport and communications network, Pakistan Railways has completed a feasibility study of the Chaman-Kandahar section for laying railway tracks between Pakistan and Turkmenistan through Afghanistan. The feasibility study for cost, engineering and design for the construction of a rail link from Gwadar to the existing rail network in Mastung district in Balochistan has also been finalized. The new link to Gwadar port will open up underdeveloped areas of Balochistan for development. The main aim of the venture is to connect the Central Asian republics with Pakistan Railways' network through Afghanistan.

China is going to be the beneficiary of Gwadar's most accessible international trade routes to the Central Asian republics and Xinjiang. By extending its East-West Railway from the Chinese border city of Kashi to Peshawar in Pakistan's northwest, Beijing can receive cargo to and from Gwadar along the shortest route, from Karachi to Peshawar. The rail network could also be used to supply oil from the Persian Gulf to Xinjiang. Pakistan's internal rail network can also provide China with rail access to Iran.

Syed Fazl-e-Haider (sfazlehaider05@yahoo.com) is a Quetta-based development analyst in Pakistan. He is the author of six books, including The Economic Development of Balochistan, published in May 2004.

Posted on 05:51 AM | Permalink

RMT: February 22 2007

STRIKE ACTION planned by 550 RMT senior conductors at Central Trains on Saturday has been suspended after agreement was today reached with the company to resume talks through the conciliation service Acas.

The company's blanket ban on release of RMT reps for union activities and the overtime ban imposed on RMT members by the company this week have both been lifted, and the company has also re-instated local-application leave arrangements.
 
"In the light of the company's revised position the RMT executive has today suspended strike action scheduled for Saturday," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.
 
"The company has agreed to resume talks through Acas, and we hope that a settlement can now be reached around the table," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 08:58 PM | Permalink

Reuters: Feb 22, 2007
By Allan Dowd

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Negotiators for Canadian National Railway and the union representing its 2,800 striking workers met again on Thursday, but the railway said it appeared little progress was being made.

The negotiations, assisted by a federal mediator, are being conducted against the backdrop of pending federal legislation that could force at least a temporary end to the strike, which began February 10.

The sides, which resumed mediated talks Tuesday after labor regulators ruled the strike was legal, are still at odds "over a wide array of issues," Canadian National spokesman Mark Hallman said.

"At this time we are not optimistic about reaching a negotiated settlement," Hallman said.

A UTU spokesman declined to characterize the status of the talks other than to say they are continuing.

CN is the largest of Canada's two national railways. The striking employees are freight train conductors and switchmen.

The railway and workers are odds over issues including wages and work rules such as disciplinary policies and rest and lunch breaks for train crews.

The previous contract expired at the end of 2006.

SOME WORKERS RETURNING

Canadian National estimated that 500 of the strikers have crossed the picket line. All of the employees returning to work are in Eastern Canada and none have given up the strike in Western Canada, Hallman said.

The UTU said on Wednesday that 330 workers had given up the strike, but it had not conducted a revised count on Thursday. A union spokesman also said that the only picketers putting down their signs were in Eastern Canada.

In a bizarre twist to an already confusing situation, the Canadian UTU negotiators who launched the strike, but were later suspended by the union's international headquarters in the United States, urged workers on Wednesday to end the walkout.

The UTU's new negotiating team has urged workers to remain on strike.

Canadian National has said government intervention to end the strike is needed because the union's internal fighting is hampering negotiations. The UTU's current negotiators say legislation is premature.

See also:

Ford's St. Thomas plant closed amid CN Rail strike, 2,300 idled day to day

News 1130: February 23, 2007

TORONTO (CP) - Ford Motor Co. of Canada has shut down its St. Thomas plant in southwestern Ontario after a material shortage caused by the ongoing CN Rail strike, a spokeswoman for the company said Friday.

The closure affect 2,300 people at the plant, which makes the Crown Victoria and Grand Marquis.

The workers have been on short shifts for the past two weeks because fo the strike.

Ford spokeswoman Lauren More said the situation is being "reviewed on a day-to-day basis" to determine when the facility will reopen and wouldn't say whether the plant will open next week.

Posted on 08:21 PM | Permalink

RMT: February 21 2007

RMT SIGNALLERS working for Network Rail in Scotland have voted by more than two to one to take strike action in their dispute over a breakdown in industrial relations.

In the ballot that closed today, signallers voted by 210 (70 per cent) to 90 (30 per cent) for action. The turnout was 63 per cent.

The breakdown in industrial relations centres on failure to honour the spirit and intention of the signallers' 35-hour week agreement, abuse of rostering agreements and the carrying out of Cognisco testing in signal boxes, despite a commitment not to.

"Our members have very clearly shown the depth of feeling on the issues involved," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"We will now be consulting with local RMT reps on Friday, and the matter will go back in front of the RMT executive early next week.

"As ever, we remain available for talks, and Network Rail should now get around the table with us to resolve these issues," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 10:32 AM | Permalink

The Herald: February 22 2007
ROB ROBERTSON

Strike action is to bring disruption to Scotland's railways after RMT signallers working for Network Rail in Scotland voted by more than two to one to take industrial action.

Union leaders will meet to work out the dates for the strike, which may be as early as next month.

The action is likely to cause massive disruption for commuters on GNER, First Scotrail, Virgin West Coast, Virgin Cross Country and those who use freight services north of the border.
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The strike action centres on claims that Network Rail failed to honour the spirit and intention of the signallers' 35-hour week agreement and abused their rostering system.

"Our members have very clearly shown the depth of feeling on the issues involved by the strength of the vote," said Phil McGarry, the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union's regional officer for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

David Simpson, Network Rail's route director for Scotland, said the decision to strike was "extremely disappointing".

He said: "Network Rail has been willing to engage with the union at every opportunity.

"We will now make contingency plans to mitigate the effects of strike action on the travelling public in Scotland.

"We will do everything possible to keep the railway running so that passengers are not inconvenienced.

"In the meantime we will be continuing to talk with both our staff and their union to resolve the issue and try to avert a damaging and divisive strike."

Meanwhile, oil tanker drivers in Grangemouth are among those who have voted to stage a three-day strike from Wednesday in a row over pay.

Posted on 10:29 AM | Permalink

Diamonds.net: 02/22/07
By Jeanette Goldman

RAPAPORT -- The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) has urged the government of Canada to intervene and help resolve a CN Rail labor dispute, expressing concern that a continued strike will have a serious economic impact on affected mining communities.

The impact is felt strongly by mining companies dependent on rail to either transport fuel in, or transport products and by-products from operations, MAC said in a statement issued on February 21.

"A continued strike by CN workers will have a serious effect on the industry," said Peter Jones, chairman of MAC and president and CEO of HudBay Minerals Inc. "The shipment of fuel and other supplies to mine sites is being compromised as is the transport of mining products, which may cause a halt in production and closure at some sites."

According to MAC, the situation in Canada's north is becoming very serious. The CN rail strike is causing a shortfall of essential fuel shipments to the diamond mines in Northern Canada. While workers on the Mackenzie Northern Railway, which connects the NWT to Alberta, are not part of the strike, CN Rail has been unable to provide enough tank cars to Edmonton refineries to meet the annual fuel re-supply commitments. Timing is critical because the fuel is delivered to the mines on a seasonal ice road that typically closes by the end of March or first week of April due to melting ice.

A record volume of fuel and other supplies are planned this year. Partial loads are being delivered from CN rail to Hay River and it is not known at this time if the shortfall can be made up in the time remaining for the winter road.

The two operating diamond mines in the NWT employ about 2,500 workers and are responsible for approximately 50 percent of the NWT's Gross Domestic Product. Their combined production makes Canada the world's third largest producer of rough diamonds. Other mines, in construction in the NWT, and in Nunavut, dependant on the winter road are also affected by the strike.

"This strike is already having a severe impact on the ability of companies to transport products for shipment, the net result is the negativeeffect across the value chain," added Gordon Peeling, president and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada.

Based in Ottawa, The Mining Association of Canada is the national organization for the Canadian mining industry. Its members are engaged in mineral exploration, mining, smelting, refining and semi-fabrication.

See also:

Canadian rail strike hurts mining, agriculture, timber

Mineweb: 22-FEB-07
By: Dorothy Kosich

RENO, NV (Mineweb.com) -- As Canada’s Labor Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn threatened to force striking conductors at Canadian National Railway back to work, the Mining Association of Canada Wednesday expressed concern regarding the strike’s impact on mining operations and mining communities.

On February 10, 2,800 conductors and yard-service workers employed by Canada’s largest railway walked off the job beginning a work stoppage that has impacted key shipments of grain, timber and other commodities.

The impact is being felt strongly by mining companies depending on rail to either transport fuel to, or transport products and by-products from operations. Peter Jones, Chairman of MAC and President and CEO of HudBay Minerals, said, “A continued strike by CN workers will have a serious effect on the industry.”

The rail strike is causing a shortfall of essential fuel shipments to diamond mines in northern Canada, while CN rail can’t provide enough tank cars to Edmonton refineries to meet annual fuel re-supply commitments. Mine fuel is usually delivered on a seasonable ice road that closes by the end of March and the first week of April due to melting ice.

Wheat export shipments at Vancouver and Prince Rupert ports in British Columbia have already been delayed by two weeks over the past month because of storms, mud slides, cold weather and rail washouts.

United Transportation Union International spokesman Frank Wilner told Bloomberg that the union doesn’t want government intervention in the strike. The dispute concerns wages and work conditions.

Canfor, North America’s second-largest lumber producer has announced mill closures, which will result in a production decline of 20 million board feet, because of the strike.

Mineweb always carries details of at least 20 independently written top mining, mining finance, metals and mining sector analysis articles on its homepage as well as a fast news feed to keep you right up to date with what is going on in the mining and metals sectors worldwide. These are continuously updated through the day. Click here to go to Mineweb's home page and access the latest news and comments on developments in mining and metals worldwide.

See also:

Rail strike, fires blamed for soaring pump prices

Orangeville Citizen: February 22, 2007 
By WES KELLER Freelance Reporter

Commuters in Dufferin County and grain growers in Western Canada have at least one thing in common this week: Problems arising from the strike by CN Rail conductors and yard workers.

The difference in their problems is that the Prairie farmers need the rail to send their produce out, thus to earn income, while the commuters need the rail to bring petroleum products in, to get them to work for their income.

The petroleum problem as of Wednesday wasn't entirely clear. According to media reports, Esso was the only supplier with a real problem, as that company had also lost a refinery.

However, as of Wednesday afternoon, it was the Shell station in Orangeville, and not Esso, that had run into supply problems. By 4:30 p.m., hopeful purchasers were lining up at the still-open Esso and at Petro Canada further west on Broadway, among other locations.

Aspokesman for the Shell outlet said a tanker was on its way from Sarnia. He hoped there would be all grades available to commuters by Thursday morning.

Information from the Bryan's Fuel commercial outlet on C Line wasn't immediately available.

Earlier, on Tuesday, according to CTV, several Esso stations in the GTAhad run out of gasoline. One station had run out of regular, and was offering premium at regular prices until it ran out of that.

On Wednesday, Orangeville's downtown Shell had only premium in its tanks, but continued to charge its $101.9 for that. Meantime, the Esso stations were at $103.4 and $103.9 for their premium grades.

By Tuesday, according to CTV, several Esso stations in the Greater Toronto Area had run out of gasoline. One station had run out of regular, and was offering premium at regular prices until it ran out of that.

At the same time, an independent outlet was quoted as saying it was having no difficulty obtaining all grades of gasoline by using a variety of distributors.

Mainline media were reporting that Shell and PetroCanada had both said they would have no problem with supply. But between Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, local gasoline prices had risen another two cents a litre.

Posted on 09:58 AM | Permalink

Playfuls.com: February 22nd 2007
by News Staff

Unrivalled projects to improve crossing the Alps are currently underway in Switzerland.

Soon, dozens of huge lorries will be travelling through the massive, north-south barrier posed by the Alps at one-minute- intervals. Switzerland is investing billions of its own funds in order to improve transport links through the Alps, for its own benefit - but also helping the entire European Union as well.

Whereas the EU has spent many long years in discussions and issuing declarations of intent, Switzerland is going ahead and putting words into deeds. The aim: many more lorries are to be transported by rail.

At present, around 1.2 million lorries are counted on the roads each year. This number is to be reduced to 650,000.

"The policy aim has been democratically upheld by a referendum," Transport Minister Moritz Leuenberger told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa about the goal of shifting lorries from the road and onto trains.

And the billions needed for it are already being earned from the heavy vehicle road fee (LSVA).

"This makes transport more expensive and encourages the shift," Leuenberger added in reference to the LSVA.

Initially, a 35-kilometre base tunnel beneath the Loetschberg mountains is to be inaugurated punctually in mid-2007 to relieve freight transit traffic through the Alps and to help contain the ever-growing flood of lorries.

But in addition, the main project focuses on the Gotthard base tunnel which the Swiss are now drilling through the Gotthard massif and which at 57 kilometres will be the world's longest railroad tunnel. It is set to be completed by 2017.

Both tunnels are part of an integrated concept aimed at shifting trans-alpine traffic from road to rail. The amount of freight transported on Swiss roads has nearly doubled in the past 25 years.

The Alps are one of the biggest obstacles to freight traffic in Europe. Around 110 million tons of freight were transported through the mountains in 2005.

All lorries heading to Italy are forced to wind their way through tunnels or via passes in Austria, France or Switzerland. The road capacities are by no means up to the task and the environmental burden to the sensitive, high-altitude region is huge and rising further.

While lorries have become cleaner as a result of stricter exhaust norms in the past years, the gains made have nearly been wiped out due to their growing numbers.

To aggravate the situation even further, one of the most important Alpine connections in the EU, the Brenner Pass linking Austria and Italy, is the subject of constant rows.

Switzerland's ambitious NEAT project, the official name of this mammoth trans-Alpine rail project, stresses sustainability. And this is going to cost some big money - an estimated 15 billion euros' worth of investments will be needed to complete the Gotthard base tunnel by 2017, and the costs are rising by the month.

By then, capacities for freight trains would have doubled. In addition, they will then be able to travel on the flat stretch of rail between such major port cities as Rotterdam or Hamburg to Brindisi in Italy, needing only one locomotive.

This would put an end to the current competitive disadvantage of rail transport - namely the time-consuming process of changing locomotives or adding a further engine in order to tackle ascents.

The Swiss maxim is that freight trains could soon regain market share from road transport and the country is already showing its EU neighbours the way: two-thirds of transit freight traffic through Switzerland is by rail, as to only one-fifth in Austria and France.

Posted on 09:33 AM | Permalink

Wiltshire Times: 20 Feb, 2007
By Charley Morgan

RAIL protestors have organised a meeting in Melksham to discuss problems with train services on the TransWilts line between Swindon and Salisbury.

Graham Ellis

The line, which runs through Chippenham, Melksham, Trowbridge, Westbury, Dilton Marsh and Warminster, saw its timetable changed in December, with several services cancelled altogether.

A petition launched last month on the Number 10 Downing Street website about the service, operated by First Great Western, gained hundreds of signatures and reached number eight out of 400 travel and transportation petitions on the website.

The complaints began after the introduction of the winter timetable in December, which led to many cancellations and a dramatic reduction in service.

During January about 40 per cent of services were cancelled between Westbury and Swindon and one week the 7am commuter service from Westbury was cancelled five times over a 10-day period.

Graham Ellis, who organised the petition and is hosting the meeting on March 5, said: "The dreadful loading of the new service instigated last December proves how important the appropriateness of the service is, and I understand that serious consideration is being given to options including a two hourly Swindon to Westbury service."

Mr Ellis hopes the meeting will drum up support from rail users to make sure the line stays in use with a viable service.

He wrote to Peter West, franchise manager at the Department of Transport, to complain about the service and received a reply last week.

In his letter, Mr West suggested that establishing Community Rail status for the passenger services on the TransWilts line could be a viable option.

This would mean First Great Western could work with groups like councils and community rail partnerships to try and manage the service to better meet local needs.

The initiative is part of the Community Rail Development Strategy by the Department for Transport.

The meeting is being held at Well House Manor, 48 Spa Road in Melksham from 7.30pm on March 5.

Posted on 05:14 PM | Permalink

RMT: February 20 2007

CENTRAL TRAINS’ vindictive overtime and rest-day working ban has resulted in dozens of train cancellations and curtailed services, the company’s biggest union reveals today.

Central imposed an overtime and rest-day working ban on some 550 RMT senior conductors who are scheduled to strike on Saturday (February 24) for the fourth time in their dispute over the imposition of a centralised rostering system.

"We warned on Friday that Central Trains could not operate a full timetable if it cancelled overtime slots our members were scheduled to work," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today

"Yesterday alone the company cancelled or revised dozens of services across their network, and their website is showing the same will happen today.

"The company's erratic and bizarre approach to this dispute has served to escalate what should really have been a straightforward issue to deal with.

"The company has already signalled that it was prepared to suspend any further imposition of centralised rostering pending further talks, but for some strange reason they were not prepared to suspend the system where it had already been introduced.

"Rather than continue to intimidate loyal RMT reps, escalate the dispute at every turn and attempt to penalise the workforce for resisting their attacks, Central should sit down with us and thrash out a sensible solution," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 04:41 PM | Permalink

RMT: February 20 2007

RAIL FRANCHISING has turned into an expensive pantomime and should be shelved before any more damage is done, Britain’s biggest rail union today.

As the shortlist of privateers bidding to take over GNER was announced, RMT renewed its call for the East Coast Mainline services to be brought back in-house and a moratorium imposed on any new franchise agreements.

"How many more failures do we need to see before the government drops franchising once and for all?" RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"Sea Containers' failure with GNER jeopardised jobs and services on one of the country's key spinal railways, yet the same absurd franchise agreements have been foisted on South West Trains and First Great Western.

"The franchising process itself will cost taxpayers millions, and the only way that any franchisee will be able to make premium payments to the treasury will be to squeeze services, passengers and rail workers, in every sense of the word.

"Only a couple of months ago the Transport Select Committee highlighted the utter nonsense of a set-up in which private operators keep siphoning profits, shoulder almost no financial risk and get to walk away when it all goes wrong.

"If the railways are to play their proper environmental role we must have a growing, joined-up railway with affordable fares and attractive services that encourage people out of their cars and onto trains - and the private sector has proved itself incapable of delivering that.

"The huge sums of taxpapers' and fare-payers' money already going into the railways should be spent on improving them, and bringing GNER's operations back in-house would be a positive first step.

ends

Note to editors: below is the Early Day Motion tabled in the House of Commons by Jim Cousins MP and signed by 31 others to date

"That this House notes that the Department of Transport has decided to re-let the East Coast Mainline franchise and place the operator GNER on a fixed management contract; further notes that the Transport Select Committee press release accompanying its recent Passenger Rail Franchising report described the franchising process as `a complex, fragmented and costly muddle'; believes that GNER services should not be re-let to a private operator; and therefore calls on the Department of Transport to protect services and jobs by returning operations on the East Coast Mainline to the public sector."

Posted on 04:35 PM | Permalink

Times Online: February 20, 2007
Joe Bolger

Arriva, FirstGroup, National Express and Virgin-Stagecoach joint venture set to compete to replace GNER.

The Department for Transport (DfT) has revealed a four-strong shortlist of bidders to replace GNER as operator of the East Coast mainline rail franchise.

Arriva, FirstGroup, National Express and a Virgin-Stagecoach joint venture will compete to run the London to Leeds, Newcastle and Scotland franchise.

The refranchising of the route, prompted by difficulties at Sea Containers, GNER’s parent, should prove of particular interest in Westminster. The East Coast route serves the constituencies of Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling, the Trade and Industry secretary.

GNER did not rebid for the franchise, although it is understood the rail group's management team have been approached by potential bidders to work together.

Arriva’s appearance on the list gives it a third opportunity to land its first long-distance franchise, having already pre-qualified to bid for the new East Midlands and Cross Country franchises.

A successful bid from FirstGroup would give a significant boost to its rail business and complement its local ScotRail services in Scotland.

It also runs inter-city services between London and the South West of England and runs trains on the East Coast mainline with its Hull Trains service.

Virgin and Stagecoach would jointly control both of the key London to Scotland rail routes should its joint venture bid succeed. The two groups jointly run Virgin Trains, which operate services on the West Coast mainline between London and Glasgow, and the Cross Country franchise, which connects the South-West of England to the North East and Scotland.

The specification for bids will be published next month, with a June deadline for final proposals. The successful bidder is due to be announced in July or August. The DfT hopes to start the new franchise in late autumn.

All bids will be subject to approval by competition regulators.

The DfT today refused to say how many parties had expressed an interest in bidding for the franchise. The re-franchising process hit controversy earlier this year after potential bidders complained that the DfT had not allowed them sufficient time to complete pre-qualification work. That, rail executives claimed, effectively restricted the competition to companies that had attempted to pre-qualify for the East Coast franchise at the last competition in 2004.

The re-franchising was kick-started at the end of last year after GNER hit difficulties, exacerbated by weaker-than-anticipated passenger numbers. The group struggled amid difficulties at Sea Containers, its parent, which entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year. GNER had attempted to regnegotiate the contract but the government refused its request, agreeing instead a caretaker management contract and launching moves to find a replacement train operator.

GNER bid £1.3 billion to run the franchise. Industry executives reckon bids for the new franchise, which will run for seven years and five months, will be closer to £1 billion.

Shares in Arriva were down 3p at 758p by 1pm. FirstGroup was 9.5p higher at 626.5p, buoyed by broker comment on its recent US acquisition. National Express was up 7p at £11.41 and Stagecoach dipped 1.25p at 165.5p.

See also:

Branson among four to fight for east coast rail franchise

The Guardian: February 21, 2007
Dan Milmo, transport correspondent

GNER had to give up its contract after paying too much and now seeks a tie-up to save the brand

The government kickstarted the process of restoring faith in the rail franchise system yesterday by unveiling the short list for the prestigious east coast franchise.

The London-to-Edinburgh route became the focal point of concerns over the viability of the franchise model last year when GNER defaulted on its £1.3bn contract with the Department for Transport. GNER blamed the aftermath of the July 7 bombings and higher than expected energy prices for the collapse of the 10-year deal, which had more than eight years left to run. The train operator admitted that it had overbid in its desperation to regain the franchise and has been running the service on a management contract basis since the end of last year.

GNER was not among the four on the short list yesterday but tried to stay in the running by announcing that it was in talks with several of the parties. The nominated potential operators - FirstGroup, National Express, Arriva and a joint venture between StageCoach and Virgin - denied that they were in active discussions with the operator. However, GNER said it was exploring a deal that could see it take a 29.9% stake in the franchise and transfer its brand to the new owner. A GNER spokesman added: "Our brand is distinctive and well regarded. The parties we are in discussions with recognise that and there are no plans to change that. We could take a 29.9% stake in a bid vehicle or new company." A spokeswoman for the DfT said a shortlisted company would have to notify the department if GNER wished to join its bid, which would have to remain "largely" owned by the original bidder.

Yesterday's announcement means that Sir Richard Branson moves a step closer to running three of the most popular long-distance train franchises in Britain. However, Virgin and Stagecoach's participation will attract the scrutiny of competition authorities because of their joint ownership of the west coast and cross-country franchises, which also run services to Scotland.

A spokesman for StageCoach said the west coast and east coast franchises, which both run services from London to Glasgow, operate in separate markets that are subject to strong competition from cars and airlines.

He added that the company would not repeat GNER's error in overbidding, although StageCoach stoked the temperature in the franchise market recently by renewing the south-west route - Britain's busiest commuter service - with a £1.2bn bid. He said: "We have made it very clear that we will put in a highly competitive bid but we are only interested in putting in a bid that is deliverable."

The National Express bid will be overseen by the transport group's new chief executive, Richard Bowker, who has an intimate knowledge of the franchise process as the former chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority, the independent government body that awarded franchises before it was absorbed into the DfT two years ago. Mr Bowker resigned from the SRA in 2004 in protest at DfT proposals to strip the body of much of its autonomy.

The new National Express boss has pledged to make the company's franchise bids more inventive under his watch, something critics of the franchise system say is impossible. Bob Mackenzie, chief executive of GNER's parent, Sea Containers, said last year that the emphasis on generating returns for the Treasury and prescriptive terms for train sizes and timetables made it too difficult for franchise owners to make money. "The pendulum has swung the other way," he said. "It was too easy to make money but now it has become too hard. We have to find a balance."

Passenger backlash

One of the shortlisted companies, FirstGroup, was engulfed in a passenger backlash against the franchise system this year when customers staged a fare strike on its First Great Western service, one of the worst-performing franchises on the network. Passengers based in the west country refused to buy tickets in protest at overcrowding, forcing FirstGroup to apologise and provide extra rolling stock. Moir Lockhead, FirstGroup chief executive, said the company would offer "improved quality of service and better value for money".

Arriva, a transport group with a strong presence on continental Europe and best known in the UK as the largest bus operator in London, said it had begun talks with passengers, staff and politicians to "understand their needs for a dependable, high-quality service on this important franchise".

Passenger Focus, the independent rail watchdog, said it wanted the east coast franchise awarded to a company whose priority is the passenger and not the bottom line. "The franchise must not be predicated on big price increases for passengers," said Guy Dangerfield of Passenger Focus.

The DfT expects to select the winner in the summer, with the new franchise starting in the autumn, nearly a year ahead of original DfT predictions. The process will be conducted under close scrutiny after the department batted away concerns over the renewal of the franchise two years ago. The then transport secretary, Alistair Darling, said the £1.3bn deal was not excessive and represented fair value for a "profitable route".

A DfT spokeswoman said yesterday that new bids would be "assessed rigorously", although it is not clear how the assessment procedure has changed since the GNER award. She added: "If an operator falls into financial difficulty it should expect to surrender its franchise. Renegotiating a contract would set a precedent that we are willing to bail out operators at extra cost to the taxpayer. By ending the franchise early and putting this management contract in place we protected the interests of taxpayers and passengers."

Christian Wolmar, the rail expert and a staunch critic of the franchise system, said there were no guarantees that the new franchise would avoid a default. "I have always thought that the franchise system is built on a wing and a prayer. The government thinks that having failing franchises is a good idea. I don't agree. It destabilises the industry."

In the running

Arriva Trains East Coast Limited Owned by Arriva, which runs Arriva Trains Wales and is the largest bus operator in London. It also runs train services in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark.

First London, Scottish and North East Railways Owned by FirstGroup, the UK's largest train and bus operator, whose franchises include First Great Western and First Capital Connect.

Intercity-Railways A joint venture between Virgin and StageCoach, who also co-own the west coast and cross-country franchises.

NXEC Trains Owned by National Express, the coach, bus and rail group whose franchises include Gatwick Express and Midland Mainline. Its chief executive is Richard Bowker, former chairman of the now defunct Strategic Rail Authority.

Vox pop

The service is quite good, normally. But then sometimes it can be really bad. Last Friday, I got stuck on my journey to London in Peterborough. The train was meant to get in at 6.30pm but it only reached London at 11.30pm. - Janna White, 19, from Doncaster, who travels to London once or twice a month for social visits

I travel to York a few times a month. Sometimes you can do the trip in two hours but if there is a small delay then it can take five to seven hours to get to a meeting. They say you can reclaim your fare if there are any disruptions but often you can't be bothered to do this. - Julian Horberry, businessman

I don't come to London often and when I do, I normally fly but I thought I'd take the train for a change to see how it was. The train looked a bit old but generally everything ran smoothly and in fact we arrived a bit early. I was quite surprised. - Richard Loudon, 56, travelling from Edinburgh to London

We travel between London and Newcastle and find the service to be good and reliable. The tickets are quite cheap as well, when you buy them on the internet in advance - Mr and Mrs Llewellyn, who travel twice a month to the capital to visit their grandchildren

Posted on 04:22 PM | Permalink

Herts Advertiser: 20 February 2007
EDITORIAL - herts.advertiser@archant.co.uk

OBJECTORS were out in force last night (Monday) at a meeting of St Albans District Council planners to determine the proposal to build giant Rail Freight Terminal on the former Radlett Aerodrome at Park Street.

The committee was unanimous in refusing planning permission for the project.

The meeting had been moved from the nearby council offices to the Alban Arena to allow for the expected crowds and nearly 400 people packed the venue. A further 250 watched the proceedings via a webcast, all protesting against the application by Helioslough for the 3.5million-square-foot depot.

Robin Booth, a planning officer with the district council, outlined 15 reasons for rejecting the depot.

He paid particular reference to the destruction of Green Belt land and said that rather than reducing pollution, the terminal could cause increased traffic congestion.

A number of objectors spoke against the proposal, while one representative from Helioslough, Simon Hoare, spoke in favour.

He told the meeting that a Strategic Rail Freight Interchange was needed in the East of England in close proximity to the M25.

Adrian Wallace of STRiFE (Stop the Rail Freight Exchange) said: "Unfortunately this proposal does not just involve the loss of a substantial area of Green Belt, it also threatens by its nature and scale to destroy the whole character of the rural locality by introducing a huge industrial park which would dwarf and pollute everything in its vicinity.

Posted on 04:10 PM | Permalink

Times Online: February 19, 2007

Support services group AMEC pulled out of the rail industry today after announcing the estimated £200 million sale of its 50 per cent stake in Anglo-French joint venture AMEC SPIE.

Samir Brikho, the chief executive, said the deal with French infrastructure company Colas was a “good start” to his plans to reposition AMEC fully on the energy sector.

Last October AMEC put the for sale sign up over its Built Environment business, which operates a host of PFI, property and construction projects.

It wants to focus on the oil, gas, wind energy and nuclear sectors and experts claim it may use the funds from today’s deal to put together a bid for BNFL’s £250 million nuclear reactor site management business. This manages the UK's ten Magnox sites.

London-based AMEC Spie Rail Systems employs 500 staff and generated £156 million of revenue in 2005.

It has designed and commissioned parts of the Channel Tunnel high-speed rail link, the Cairo Metro in Egypt and sections of France’s TGV network.

Mr Brikho said: “This is a good outcome for our rail business and I am confident that under new ownership it will have a positive future.

“The disposal of our interest to Colas is consistent with finding strong purchasers with good prospects for all of the built environmental businesses.

“The successful disposal of these businesses is a key objective for 2007. Today’s transaction represents a good start to our plans.”

Colas is expected to complete the takeover on April 2.

See also:

Amec disposes of remaining stake in rail systems business

Business Sale Report: 20/02/2007

Amec, the UK-based support services group, announced yesterday that it is to sell its 50 per cent stake in its Amec Spie Rail Systems business to French infrastructure company Colas for an estimated £200m.

Colas will also purchase the remaining 50 per cent of the business from Spie.

The sale marks an important step for Amec in its strategy to dispose of non-core construction businesses and focus on oil, gas, nuclear and wind energy. Last July, the company sold Spie, a French engineering business, to private equity company PAI for £707m, but chose to retain the 50 per cent stake in the rail systems business.

Based in Crawley, Amec Spie Rail Systems employs around 500 staff and revenue to December 2005 was £156m. EBITDA stands at around £6m.

“This is a good outcome for our rail business and I am confident that under new ownership it will have a positive future,” said Samir Brikho, Amec chief executive.

“The disposal of our interest to Colas is consistent with finding strong purchasers with good prospects for all of the built environmental businesses.”

The transaction is expected to be complete on April 2nd.

Posted on 09:17 AM | Permalink

The Financial Express: February 19, 2007
DEBATE - S BALACHANDRAN

Not really practical in the existing railway network in India, concludes Rail Board member.

The question at hand could at best be an academic discussion. Allowing the private sector to run trains is not particularly practical in the Indian context. The railways are totally under the public domain — the opening up of Concor type of operations to other players should not be mistaken for train operations, and there is no expertise in the private sector in train operations.

The Indian railway system is a large network with both infrastructure and operations vertically integrated and that is why it has been possible to operate thousands of freight and passenger trains daily without hiccups. The operational issues of safety, coordination, allocation of paths across the various zones and also accounting are all being done under the overarching umbrella of a single management.

The only model of private sector train operations is a unique experiment in Britain where there is a total business separation between infrastructure and operations. The operators receive government subsidy to augment their fare box collections. This model has had a fair share of problems over the years and is being gradually resolved with the intervention of the British government through the department for transport. Elsewhere in Western Europe, though, there is institutional separation; passenger train operations in most of these countries are with a single large operator within the same group, which controls the infrastructure entity. There is no real on-track competition from a few third-party operators who have been only complaining of discriminatory treatment before the relevant regulatory authority.

The large investments needed for acquiring train sets and motive power will act as a high entry barrier without commensurate pricing leverage to meet private sector expectations of returns after netting out the payments for track usage, operations and maintenance costs. Indian Railways’ pricing today for passenger services on an overall basis is below cost, serving a larger social objective, and is cross-subsidised by freight earnings.

Even in the tourist segment, the few services which are run to cater to overseas and domestic tourists are being operated by Indian Railways.

Such a scenario offers few opportunities for new players. I would conclude by saying that private train operations are only possible in a vertically integrated, stand-alone system but is not practical in the existing railway network.

—The writer is a former additional member, Railway Board

Posted on 01:11 AM | Permalink

The Observer: February 18, 2007
Gaby Hinsliff and Juliette Jowitt

Commuters say they would be happy to hang up their car keys if the bus or train could take the strain. But, can 1.5 million e-petitioners be so wrong about the government's proposed pay-as-you-drive charges?

Victoria from Somerset hates traffic jams, worries about the number of cars clogging the roads and so travels to work by train: ultimately, she would love to be able to sell her car. In short, she is just the sort of public-spirited commuter to gladden the heart of a government struggling to convince Britons they need road pricing to push motorists off the roads.

Unfortunately, she hates her commute. Delayed trains constantly make her late for work and sometimes overcrowding means she can't actually get on a train and, when she can, the crammed carriages are 'like torture'. So, she told a website set up for outraged commuters on the First Great Western line, she is stumped: 'Should I continue to give FGW my hard-earned cash or do I jump in my car, pollute the atmosphere and clog up the roads? I need an alternative! Any suggestions?'

This is no longer just Victoria's problem. A report to be launched this week by Stephen Ladyman, the Transport Minister, will warn that road pricing - under which motorists would be charged to use the busiest routes at peak times - will not work without investment in public transport to create 'attractive alternatives'. Otherwise, the report by the Social Market Foundation will argue, people will just pay to keep driving and become resentful over the extra costs they had little choice over.

So can road pricing be sold to the public, even after 1.5 million of them signed the e-petition on Downing Street's own website demanding the scheme be scrapped? Options being studied by the Department for Transport to popularise it include, as The Observer reveals today, making the scheme voluntary initially. Motorists opting in would get money off fuel tax, paying their road pricing charge at the petrol pump via a swipecard that would convey information about how far they had travelled. Black boxes installed in cars to collect information about journeys would be made appealing by bolting on satellite navigation systems and pay-as-you-go insurance - allowing low-mileage drivers to pay lower premiums.

Edmund King, executive director of the RAC Foundation, suggested that the government could even rebrand road pricing as UK Drive Time to advertise potential benefits: 'You would then [show] that actually this system does work, it's not a big brother, it's not extra tax, and people will see the benefits.'

This week the Prime Minister and the Transport Secretary, Douglas Alexander, will begin a fightback over road pricing - including emailing e-petition signatories to rebut what they believe are scaremongering inaccuracies in the petition. For instance, campaigners against road pricing claim the technology used for charging will cost £200 and represent an 'attack on freedom' by tracking drivers. The government will point out there has been no decision on the technology to be used.

On Monday, Ken Livingstone will formally extend London's £8-a-day congestion charge, the most ambitious attempt to tackle gridlock so far, to the west. He enjoys pointing out that critics predicted that his charge would be a disaster: instead, congestion was cut by 30 per cent in its first year and he is hailed for his vision. There is evidence his charge is losing traction. Figures released last week suggest the extension will bring only a 4 per cent further reduction in traffic, with most drivers choosing to pay and stay on the roads.

Yet Britain cannot keep careering on towards gridlock. Last week the DfT admitted road traffic had risen another five billion vehicle kilometres, a 12 per cent rise since 1997. The Commons transport select committee concluded that, far from making progress on congestion targets, the department was going backwards.

The former British Airways chief commissioned by Gordon Brown to review transport policy warned that by the year 2025 congestion would cost the economy £22 billion in lost time. But would national road pricing, Rod Eddington's favoured solution, reverse the tide - or just buy time before roads snarl up again? And is there really no alternative?

The French may not be famed for their saintly driving habits, but Paris last week entered the traffic debate by promising to cut congestion by an ambitious 40 per cent - without making anyone pay a penny in congestion charges.

Instead there will be more pedestrianisation and cycle lanes, physically squeezing cars out; trams will link main rail stations, and a new high-speed rail 'ringroad' will be built around the city. Cars will be made less welcome, but public transport made an easier alternative. Denis MacShane, the former Foreign Minister, argues Britain could learn from such ideas: 'Road pricing can play a part, but I just think we should use every tool in the box.'

Other critics suggest the government should control traffic by ditching policies that perversely encourage car journeys, such as letting children apply to schools outside the local catchment area or permitting out-of-town retail parks. The anti-road pricing group No Tolls, which helped galvanise support for the petition, lobbies for road building instead.

The DFT says it has tried managing traffic better and investing more, and that it is not enough. One problem is keeping up with inexorably rising demand. Last week rail operators said passenger numbers rose sharply last year to 'well over a billion' and that up to 130,000 commuters a day would be forced to stand on their journey to work by 2014. 'At the end of that, you have to say that, if congestion is going to grow, you have got to find solutions,' says one DfT official. The department hopes the 10 areas across the country, from Bristol to Durham, which have bid for government funds to investigate introducing forms of local road charging can now convince the public it could work.

Only one, Greater Manchester, is so far firmly committed to going ahead - prompting speculation that some areas could use the cash to fund planning and public transport improvements, but back out of charging. A spokesman for the West Midlands bid, one of the most promising large trial areas, said road charging was one of three options being considered, with a decision due in July

Ministers are now calling on those who backed road pricing initially -including the AA and RAC - to defend it. Green campaigners are discussing a rival e-petition backing road pricing - a gift to the opposition if it flopped. 'People don't often sign positive petitions,' said Estelle Taylor, spokesman for campaign group Transport 2000, who says those favouring road pricing all have different reasons for supporting it.

The problem for pro-road pricers is that there are too many questions they cannot yet answer. Transport ministers - or rather the Treasury - haven't decided what the cost should be, whether profits should all be returned to drivers through cuts in road tax or be spent partly on public transport, and how cars should be tracked or which roads covered. 'There is a debate about what we could do, but it always ends up with "but it's so far in the future",' said a senior departmental source, who says the answers will have to wait until it is clearer how high taxes or spending might be by 2015.

Faced with gaps in the proposals, voters imagine the worst - egged on by the antis. Much of the current row relies on a 2004 feasibility study which suggested fitting the nation's 33 million cars, vans and lorries with tracking devices and charging up to £1.40 on the busiest roads - raising £10 billion.

Yet that paper also predicted that much more modest schemes - charging up to 32p per mile, or limited to a handful of big urban centres and trunk roads - could still significantly reduce congestion. It also made clear rural roads could be free to drive on, while only 0.5 per cent of drivers would pay the top rate - crucial elements drowned out in the fury of last week's debate. But with Middle England's media cheerleaders now on the warpath, would two-thirds of drivers still tell pollsters, as they did in 2004, that they would accept road pricing if taxes did not rise overall?

The Blairite think tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research, which has studied public attitudes to charging, found three main public objections.

'People felt they already did everything they could to avoid traffic, so how would paying to drive make any difference?' says Jenny Bird, who led the research. 'Secondly, people perceived it as a stealth tax, and the third reason was loss of freedom - people felt the government would be telling them where and when they could drive.' The trickiest argument is the stealth tax one. For even a revenue-neutral scheme to counter charges of raising money by the backdoor would still have individual winners and losers who could feel aggrieved.

Rural drivers could profit from road tax being slashed and never travel on tolled main roads, emerging richer overall: school-run mothers with no choice but to travel at peak times could end up worse off, even with cheaper road tax. Which is one reason why the Social Market Foundation report argues that the key to public acceptance is for tolls not to simply vanish into Treasury coffers. It found little to choose in popularity between revenue-neutral schemes and revenue-raisers where money is earmarked for public transport - an option 66 per cent of voters told a DfT survey they would support.

Or put simply, if Victoria from Somerset - along with all the other tens of thousands of people who stand every day on their train to work - could actually get a seat on a brand-new, clean train which ran on time, she might give up her car without feeling overly resentful. And Britain could reap the benefit.

Pricing in the rest of the world

Singapore probably operates the world's most sophisticated road charging system, whose cost can be adjusted hourly depending on whether traffic is particularly light or heavy. Drivers use prepaid smart cards to enter the busy downtown district, with tolls costing about a pound during the morning rush hour and half as much for the 30 minutes on either side. Since its introduction in 1975, traffic levels have halved - but Singapore also has other measures to deter drivers, such as high road tax and restrictions on who can own cars.

The citizens of Stockholm, Sweden, recently voted in a referendum to back charges of up to about £4.20, varying according to the time of day, to enter the city. Drivers must have direct debit accounts to pay. Charges were introduced for a trial period, during which the traffic jams eased, then the trial stopped while the vote was held: the roads clogged up again. It is said to have reduced traffic by about 20 per cent; but Swedes are already more used to high taxes than Britons.

Road pricing in Germany involves a road user charge for lorries: the system uses GPS satellite technology to trace lorries and mobile technology to collect the money. Several other European countries - including France, Switzerland and Hungary - operate motorway tolls under a 'vignette' system, where the driver must have a prepaid sticker displayed on the windscreen to use the road.

Seattle, USA, began experimenting with a voluntary road charging scheme two years ago in which cars were fitted with satellite tracking devices, showing what the toll per mile was at the time on the road they were approaching. Volunteers were given free credits for the amount of tolls they would have been expected to pay, based on their previous road usage: if they used the charged roads less, they could keep the surplus, up to £100. The trial has not yet produced conclusive findings.

Gaby Hinsliff

Posted on 06:39 PM | Permalink

Cambridge Evening News: 17 February 2007

RAIL passengers face disruption next weekend due to strike action.

More than 550 Central Trains conductors will stage a walkout on Saturday, February 24, because of a dispute between the company and the RMT union.

Central Trains said it was awaiting confirmation of the strike before issuing details of affected services.

The RMT says Central Trains threatened to stop paying members taking part in industrial action.

Members had planned to go to work but not issue tickets in their dispute over a new rostering system.

This action has now been replaced with a strike.

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said: "If the company put as much effort into settling this dispute as they have put into intimidating and winding our members up it would have been over by now."

Posted on 09:20 AM | Permalink

News Wales: 16/2/2007

Wrexham Labour MP Ian Lucas has condemned two train operating companies for objecting to plans for a direct link between Wrexham and London.

Mr Lucas has attacked objections made by Arriva Trains and Virgin Trains about the proposed link, which would be operated by the WSMR company.

He said: "Neither Virgin nor Arriva have proposed a direct rail link between Wrexham and London. It is clear that WSMR's proposal will create an entirely new link and will meet the needs of many of my constituents by doing so. Virgin and Arriva are, I believe, acting to protect their own private interests and not the interests of rail passengers in Wrexham."

"WSMR's bid is a worthy one and the train companies objecting to it should instead concentrate on encouraging passengers to use their own services, both of which are subsidised by the taxpayer through franchise agreements."

Posted on 09:08 AM | Permalink

Bristol Evening Post: 17 February 2007

A Property expert claims plans for showcase bus routes will not solve Bristol's traffic problems.

Andrew Hardwick, president of Bristol Property Agents Association, said the £42 million grant awarded to the four former Avon councils for 10 new routes would be better spent on other projects.

Mr Hardwick, who is also a director of Bristol commercial

property agents Williams Gunter Hardwick, said he believed there was a stigma attached to bus travel that could not be overcome by new schemes to improve punctuality - and says plans to give priority over other traffic along the routes will just annoy other motorists.

He said: "I think £42m for the bus routes sounds like quite a big investment, but I am not at all convinced it will give the citizens of Bristol the transport system they expect.

"At the moment I think the result of the showcase bus routes will be the penalisation of people in cars and it will antagonise their view of public transport.

"There is also the cultural issue of bus travel - the fact is that it is not 'hip' and it is not what people see themselves doing.

"I have learned a lot about bus travel from my kids. They talk about the routes and have confidence to use buses.

"But a lot of business people don't have that confidence - they are nervous about it.

"They have heard the urban myths about strange people on buses and I think there is a problem overcoming that."

"We represent major companies in Bristol. They are enthusiasts for what is going on in the city, like the redevelopments.

"For them, a priority is getting staff into work, so transport and parking is crucial, and they are saying the current transport plan doesn't work."

Mr Hardwick favours a "multi-level" solution embracing rail travel and improving journey times for car drivers. He said: "What I call the 'easy wins' have got to be achieved - like opening up the rail line to Portishead, and clearing traffic lights where junctions are snarled up."

Dennis Brown, Bristol City Council's cabinet member for transport and development control, said: "Our experience is that showcase bus routes have had a very positive impact on business.

"It is true that if no-one takes advantage of the buses, then they will fail, but the way it is arranged is that in Bristol they will be on major arteries.

"Evidence says they work, and it will create a substantial enhancement to the transport system."

City council spokesman Simon Caplan said the authority already supported rail services, citing the subsidy recently agreed for the Severn Beach line, and it was also working to improve flows through traffic lights.

He said: "The railway line to Portishead is not necessarily something that the local authorities can pick up because railway lines are ultimately the Government's responsibility. The Greater Bristol Bus Network can tackle congestion right across the region. It will make buses a fast, comfortable way of getting in."

Bristol City Council is currently beginning work on the city's second showcase bus route.

Posted on 12:18 PM | Permalink

Bristol Evening Post: 17 February 2007

First Great Western has apologised to a heavily pregnant woman who suffered a panic attack after being denied access to a train.

Kieshia Chun, 22, of Milton, Weston-super-Mare, was on the way home from her publishing company job in Bath when she tried to board a train at Bristol Temple Meads.

Her direct train had been cancelled and she rushed across to another platform to catch a slow train to Weston.

But she was told the train was full and she was not allowed to get on board.

The credit controller, whose baby is due on March 25, said: "The dispatcher and the ticket collector watched me walk from the steps to the train and only when I got there did they tell me I couldn't get on because it was full.

"The doors were not locked but there was plenty of space for at least one more person and there was only me waiting.

"I have been on it when it has been a lot busier than that.

"I was very out of breath and very noticeably heavily pregnant.

"When the conductor refused to let me on, I asked him if he was joking and told him I was eight months pregnant, to which he replied that there was nothing he could do about it because there was no space and he closed the doors."

Kieshia then asked the employee to fetch someone so she could complain but claims she was told not be rude and was pointed in the direction of another platform for complaints.

She was so enraged she started having a panic attack and began to struggle to breathe.

This was overheard by her partner, Matt Venn, who she had been talking to on her mobile phone.

Matt, a 35-year-old project manager, called National Rail and the company then called a taxi to take Kieshia home and agreed to foot the bill.

Kieshia added: "It was very stressful because they were unbelievably rude."

When Kieshia recovered she called the rail network and was told it would investigate and she would receive a reply within 24 hours.

A week later she claims she received a letter saying there was nothing they could do but it has since offered to refund her weekly ticket in travel vouchers.

A First Great Western spokesman said: "Our customer service manager has investigated the issue and we can confirm that after a first letter, the woman was written to again and offered vouchers to the value of her weekly season ticket, in addition to our having already reimbursed her taxi fare.

"We apologise to the customer for any inconvenience caused to her, and we appreciate the customer needed to catch her train.

"However, our platform staff are required to stop people trying to board trains if the doors are locked or closed and the train is about to depart - for obvious safety reasons - and they acted as trained for safety."

Posted on 11:27 AM | Permalink

Bristol Evening Post: 17 February 2007

A Shirehampton seaman who spent 44 years in the merchant navy and saw nine conflicts has presented his medals to a navy association.

Chris Inker, 60, first set sail when he was 16 and spent 23 years working on commercial ships before joining the Royal Fleet Auxilliary and ended up in Vietnam at the time of the wars.

He served in many conflicts, wars and peacekeeping missions supporting the British forces engaged there, either by helping to carry out supplies or transporting forces.

Mr Inker has now presented all his medals, shields, pictures and other artefacts to the Bristol branch of the Merchant Navy Association to be put on display at the Dock Cottage Base in the Cumberland Basin.

Mr Inker will now settle into life in Bristol again, having spent little time in his home city since his teens.

Mr Inker grew up in Southmead and left school at 15. He spent a short spell on the PBA dredgers Frome and Avon, before signing on to his first ship Matina in 1963.

He served on various ships including a seven-month voyage on the Shell tanker Hanetia running between Singapore and Vietnam, which took him out there during the war.

Mr Inker joined the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, the largest British shipping company, as a quartermaster in August 1986, first on the Fort Grange a fleet support vessel for British Forces, before moving on to the Resource, Olmeda, Regent, Tidespring, Grey Rover and finally on the Fort Austin.

He said: "I've had a very interesting life and I can't count on my fingers how many times I have been around the world.

"I enjoyed every minute of it, especially being in Vietnam as my first time in a war situation, going up the Saigon River. The rest camp was like something out of MASH.

"I was glad to have the chance to be involved and do what I could to help out."

Mr Inker said: "As soon as I got on my first ship that was me gone.

"I just kept on going and followed the sun, to Australia, New Zealand, South America."

Along with his 12 medals, The Railway and Maritime Trade Union presented Mr Inker with a long service medal in 2003 when he completed 40 years in the merchant service.

Captain Hamish Grant, chairman of the Merchant Navy Association in Bristol, said: "I hope that any young boys and girls who hear of Chris's experiences will be inspired to follow in his footsteps."

Dock Cottage Museum will be open to the public on Doors Open Day this year on Saturday, September 8.

Posted on 10:32 AM | Permalink

Transport Briefing: 16/02/07

Passenger journeys on the National Rail network increased by 6.7% during 2006 to a sixty year high of 1.147bn, according to the Association of Train Operating Companies.

This is the highest number of passenger journeys ever made on the post-Beeching rail network, which is now around half the size it was in 1946.

The figures represent an acceleration in the number of journeys made annually with the percentage growth of 3.1% recorded during 2005 more than doubling over the past year. While growth during the whole of 2006 was 6.7%, ATOC says growth in the past six months has been about 10%.

George Muir, director general of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said: "This has been a very successful year for the railway - people are increasingly turning to rail. For the first time we are seeing the environmental benefits of rail becoming a significant factor in how people choose to travel around the UK."

According to ATOC, around 3.2m journeys are made on the railway network every day. Passenger journeys have increased by more than 50% since 1995/6. Significant increases in passenger journeys have been experienced across the whole country with headline figures including:
A 9.7% rise on long distance services (71% increase since 1995/6)
A 6.0% rise on London and south east services (48% since 1995/6)
A 7.3% rise on regional services (52% increase since 1995/6)

Muir added: "There is a huge programme of work in hand aimed at meeting rising demand - some projects are already underway and others are at an advanced stage of planning between government and the industry, ready for approval. The new High Speed 1 rail link to France is virtually complete and will handle domestic traffic from Kent in 2009. The Thameslink Programme has received Parliamentary approval and if it gets the final go ahead will massively expand capacity into London from both the north and the south. Crossrail, currently before Parliament, will address traffic east and west of London as well as through traffic."

But despite railway spending being at a record high, few projects to increase capacity have been sanctioned by the government with recent franchise agreements concentrating on squeezing more out of the existing network, rather than investing in infrastructure. The Thameslink and Crossrail projects have yet to secure funding and will take more than three years to implement even if they secure funding this summer.

Posted on 12:59 AM | Permalink

Edmonton Sun: February 17, 2007

Various sectors suffer from service disruptions

Continuation of a weeklong strike by unionized CN Rail conductors and yard workers will have a devastating effect on Canada's third largest export industry, says the head of the country's chemical industry association.

"At a time when the manufacturing industry is hurting, we are seeing a dramatic impact on producers, customers, employees, consumers and communities that can be prevented by the government," Larry MacDonald, chairman of the Canadian Chemical Producers' Association, said in a news release yesterday.

MacDonald, who is also chief financial officer of Nova Chemicals Corp., a major petrochemicals exporter from Alberta and the border community of Sarnia, Ont., said many companies have slowed production because they have no means to ship their products to customers.

It's a message that has been repeated by several large CN customers, including the Canadian Wheat Board and Canfor Corp., Canada's largest softwood lumber producer and exporter.

The chemical association has written to Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn asking the federal government to intervene to restore full rail service.

NO BACK-TO- WORK

A spokesman for Blackburn said the minister can't intervene while a CN challenge to the legality of the strike is before the independent, quasi-judicial Canada Industrial Relations Board.

A hearing by the board is to reconvene Monday.

The government also has no plans to introduce backto- work legislation to end the strike.

Larry Masaro of National Silicates, a company that makes materials for detergent, pulp and paper, chemicals, oil and construction markets, said the strike is causing hardship for small and medium-sized companies that are not receiving raw materials by rail.

Dow Canada president Jeff Johnston said the strike is also affecting the customers of the industrial chemicals producer.

" This strike is already having a severe impact on our ability to ship products, which is affecting our customers across the value chain."

CN said 2,800 of its United Transportation Union workers have been on an illegal strike since last Saturday.

The strike began after negotiations in Montreal broke down.

It affects freight service nationally but not Via Rail or commuter rail traffic in Montreal and Toronto.

See also:

Chemical makers ask Canadian govt to end CN Rail strike

Reuters: Feb 16, 2007

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Canadian chemical companies said on Friday they have cut production because of a strike at Canadian National Railway Co. and have asked the federal government to intervene.

More than 2,000 conductors and switch yard workers at CN, Canada's largest railway, walked off the job last Saturday in a contract dispute over a variety of issues, including wages and working conditions.

The Canadian Chemical Producers' Association said the strike is having a significant impact on chemical manufacturers, which rely on rail to receive raw materials and ship finished goods.

"A continued strike by CN workers will have a devastating effect on the industry," said Larry MacDonald, chief financial officer of Calgary, Alberta's Nova Chemical Corp.

Nova later issued a statement saying it had cut back production, and warned it would suffer a "significant" financial impact if the strike is protracted.

The C$29 billion ($25 billion) Canadian chemical industry is the country's third-largest exporter, the association said.

Canadian Pacific Railway and the trucking industry are both running at capacity, the association said, leaving chemical shippers with few options.

Shell Chemicals Canada Ltd. said in a letter to Canada's labor minister that it has already experienced vessel loading delays at the Pacific port of Vancouver because of the strike.

Canadian National has been using managers to try to keep trains running, but grain, lumber and automotive shippers have complained of slowdowns.

Agrium Inc., Canada's No. 2 fertilizer producer, saw a shortfall in rail cars this week, although it is not yet the peak shipping season for the company, said Richard Downey, a spokesman.

A lengthy strike could affect fertilizer supplies for U.S. and Canadian farmers hoping to boost production in the face of skyrocketing grain prices, Downey said.

"There's already a concern that there's not going to be enough fertilizer to go around this spring," he said.

Agrium is the top U.S. crop supply retailer.

The strike has not affected Agrium's production, Downey said, although it may have to rein in potash and ammonia production if the strike lasted for several weeks, he said.

"From our perspective, it can't drag on for very long, because it is going to impact delivery as we head toward the spring season," Downey said.

A spokesman for Potash Corp. (POT.TO: Quote, Profile , Research), the world's top fertilizer producer by market value, declined comment on how the strike was affecting its operations.

"We're monitoring it, we're in constant communication with CN, and we're attempting to ensure that our product is being moved," Tim Herrod said.

Canadian Pacific Railway declared force majeure on shipments to some terminals at the Pacific port of Vancouver because of congestion caused by the strike, shippers said on Friday.

Some of the affected terminals handle potash, bulk fertilizers, and inbound phosphate rock.

See also:

CN Rail strike angers shippers as union squabbles

Reuters: Feb 16, 2007
By Allan Dowd

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Angry shippers demanded on Friday an end to a strike at Canadian National Railway Co., while infighting among union leaders grew increasingly bitter.

Ford Motor Co. blamed the strike by about 2,300 CN conductors and switching crews for its shutdown of an Ontario assembly plant on Friday, and Canadian chemical makers complained of forced production cuts and urged the federal government to intervene to end the strike.

Lumber producers have also been hurt by the strike at Canada's largest railway, which started on Saturday, as have grain companies, which have also asked that it be brought to a quick conclusion.

The governor of the state of Maine, John Baldacci, has also urged Canada to resolve the dispute, saying the strike was contributing to a shortage of propane in his northern New England state.

CN has used management crews to replace the strikers, but service has been slowed both by the strike and tough weather conditions in Central Canada. Extreme cold temperatures hamper air-brake systems and force railroads to run shorter trains.

No negotiations are scheduled between CN and the United Transportation Union. The sides are currently at odds over the length of a "cooling off" period during which the union would agree not to strike if contract talks resume.

The contract dispute centers on both wages and work conditions. The previous contract expired at the end of 2006.

But the rhetoric between the railway and the UTU was tame compared to a battle between the union's Canadian leaders and the union's international leaders in the United States, which had opposed the strike.

UTU International President Paul Thompson has accused the union's Canadian general chairman, Rex Beatty, of using the strike to split the organization and have the Canadian locals join the rival Teamsters union.

Beatty and other Canadian union officers have placed UTU's 2,800 members at CN "in harm's way" Thompson said in a letter that also questions how Beatty has accounted for funds received from CN.

Beatty rejected the allegation, and has threatened to sue Thompson.

"The actions of President Thompson are deplorable to say the least. An obvious act of desperation, given what has occurred re: CN negotiations/strike," he said in a statement posted on the UTU's Canadian Web site.

A Canadian National spokesman said the internal union battle was a "distraction" and that the company's focus was on attempting to restart negotiations.

Montreal-based CN said there was nothing improper in the payments to the UTU, which were part of the 2002 contract settlement.

But the company said the allegations that the strike was part of a union raid cast doubt on whether the union's Canadian negotiators were sincere in wanting to settle the dispute quickly.

The Teamsters and United Transportation Union have long been rivals in the North American labor movement. Both represent workers within the railway industry and they have clashed over some transportation issues.

A unit of the Teamsters represents locomotive engineers at Canadian National.

The union infighting will also be the focus of a hearing on Monday of a Canada Industrial Relations Board. CN wants the board to declare the strike illegal because it was not legally authorized by the UTU's international headquarters.

Canada's second largest railway, Canadian Pacific Railway said the strike was not causing it major problems yet, although it had slowed interchange traffic and forced CP to declare a force majeure on shipments to some terminals at Vancouver's port.

"We're watching it very closely," CP spokesman Ed Greenberg said.

The strike does not involve CN's operations in the United States, in northern Quebec or on its Algoma Central and Mackenzie Northern Railway subsidiaries.

(With reporting by Roberta Rampton in Winnipeg and Frank Pingue in Toronto)

See also:

CP Rail declares force majeure at Vancouver port

Reuters: February 16, 2007

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Canadian Pacific Railway declared a force majeure on shipments to some terminals at the Pacific port of Vancouver because of the Canadian National Railway Co. strike, officials said on Friday.

Canadian Pacific said the facilities were on the north shore of Vancouver's Burrard Inlet where Canadian National handles train switching operations under a co-production agreement between the two railways.

The strike by Canadian National's conductors and switch yard employees that began on February 10 has meant their work was now being done by management personnel, and a CN spokesman said additional people have now been assigned to the area to deal with delays.

A Canadian Pacific spokesman said the strike was also slowing interchange traffic between Canada's largest railways at some other points in the country, but that overall it was not yet causing major problems for CP's operations

"It's something that we are watching very closely, as you can appreciate," said CP spokesman Ed Greenberg.

The problems with shipments to and from the north shore of Vancouver's Burrard Inlet were beyond CP Rail's control, it said in a memo sent to shippers declaring force majeure on contracts starting on February 14.

"Interchange traffic and co-production with CN on the north shore is not moving smoothly and has been experiencing congestion related to events beyond CPR's reasonable control, including the strike by conductors employed by the CN," the memo said.

The terminals at Vancouver's north shore handle grain, chemicals, wood products and fertilizers. Owners include the Canadian division of Dow Chemical Co. as well as Saskatchewan Wheat Pool , Canada's No. 2 grain shipper.

CP did not identify what products were affected.

Greenberg said Canadian Pacific has not been trying to take advantage of its larger rival's woes by soliciting traffic because of the strike. "Our focus has been on serving our existing customers," he said.

The strike has not disrupted other areas of the railways's track networks where CN and CP have co-production agreements, such as through British Columbia's Fraser Canyon where they sue each other's main line tracks, Greenberg said.

See also:

Rail Strike "Devastating" To Chemical Industry

All Headline News: February 16, 2007
Danielle Godard

Toronto, ON (AHN) - The rail conductors' strike which begun this week was initially slated by CN Rail to have "little impact" on operations of the national company but has been outed as devastating Canada's chemical industry by their reduced scheduling.

The Canadian Chemical Producers' Association (CCPA) has asked the government to intervene in the strike or risk a massive economic downturn in the first quarter of 2007.

"A continued strike by CN workers will have a devastating effect on the industry," said Larry MacDonald, chairman of CCPA.

"At a time when the manufacturing industry is hurting, we are seeing a dramatic impact on producers, customers, employees, consumers and communities that can be prevented by the government."

Chemicals are Canada's third largest export and are a $29 billion business.

The strike is the keeping chemicals in the country with the reduced rail service affecting chemical suppliers and their distribution methods as well - possibly creating a trade deficit.

"Many companies have slowed down production as they have no means to ship their products to their customers ... We have to cut back on production because we are not receiving our raw materials by rail," MacDonald explained.

"We have to use trucks to replace trains for the shipping of chemical products," he added.

Negotiations between CN and the United Transporters Union began on February 5 and culminated in a strike on February 10 over pay and benefits.

CN has since called the action "illegal" but has been unsuccessful at getting the conductors back to work.

Only about 100 CN conductors employed on GO Trains between Toronto and its suburbs remained at work as of Friday, after signing a collective agreement to remain at work for the time being.

The CN conductors at GO are responsible for getting 142,000 people to and from work each day, giving a strike the potential to trigger a major economic meltdown in Toronto.

See also:

Ford Canada sole automaker hit by CN Rail strike

Reuters: Feb 16, 2007
By Frank Pingue

TORONTO - Ford Motor Co. of Canada said on Friday it has shut down its assembly plant at St. Thomas, Ontario, because of a strike by freight train workers at Canadian National Railway Co.

Both General Motors of Canada and DaimlerChrysler Canada said they have yet to feel any impact from the strike. Calls to Honda Canada Inc. and Toyota Canada Inc. were not returned.

Ford's plant, which assembles the Ford Crown Victoria and Mercury Grand Marquis models, normally operates two eight-hour shifts a day during the week.

"It's down today," said Lauren More, a spokeswoman for Ford Canada. "It's because of a material shortage due to the rail strike, so we are looking for alternatives in terms of trucking."

More said she could not predict when employees would be able to resume work given uncertainty about when the rail strike will end.

The plant in St. Thomas, which has about 2,578 employees, opened in 1967 and has been assembling the Crown Victoria and the Grand Marquis since 1984. It builds about 1,000 vehicles a day.

More than 2,000 Canadian conductors and switch yard workers at CN Rail, Canada's largest railway, walked off the job last Saturday in a contract dispute over a variety of issues including wages and working conditions.

DaimlerChrysler Canada said the rail strike has not had any impact on production at any of its facilities but it continues to monitor the situation closely.

"We have not had any affect," Ed Saenz, a spokesman for the automaker said. "I can't comment into the future...but we've not experienced anything yet."

GM Canada, the country's biggest automaker, said it has not experienced any impact from the rail strike.

"As far as I know we have not been impacted at this stage," said Patty Faith, a spokeswoman with GM Canada. "We are not anticipating anything at this stage, but we will keep an eye on it absolutely."

Posted on 12:27 AM | Permalink

Bristol Evening Post: 16 February 2007
BY TOM HODSON

Passengers may face further misery when rail operator First Great Western cuts the number of carriages available for its trains, according to a report.

The latest concerns over the trouble-hit company are raised in an article in Rail magazine.

It follows major protests last month by travellers hit by reductions in local services in the latest timetable for the region, which started in December.

The magazine revealed cuts in the number of carriages are planned for January 2008, when timetables are likely to change again.

It says a document drafted before First took over the Greater Western contract in April 2006 proposed to reduce the number of carriages from 702 at the start of the franchise to 643 next January; a figure disputed by the company.

Because carriages are being refitted with aircraft-style seating, the number of seats will rise from 236,610 at the start of the contract in April 2006 to 251,841 in January 2008.

Part of company's plan is to replace 70 less reliable Adelante carriages, introduced in 2002, with 89 refurbished high-speed train carriages.

Richard Clinnick from Rail magazine said the Class 180 Adelante carriages had been a failure since their introduction in 1999, hence the need for replacement.

He said: "They basically keep breaking down. They were introduced in about 1999 and took a while to get into the system. They have improved over the past couple of years but are not much better."

Peter Andrews, of campaign group More Trains Less Strain, which mounted a fare strike in January, said: "We, the general public, have been given the runaround by First Great Western.

"What we want is a good service with enough trains, which doesn't break the bank. What we have got is a reduced service at an increased cost. We feel we are being treated with disdain."

The group's Train Watch campaign is continuing to gather tales of woe from commuters.

First Great Western initially won the Greater Western franchise contract for seven years, with a possible extension for three years.

The contract meant the company has a rail monopoly in Bristol but hit problems after a new timetable in December 2006 cut services serving some stations, combined with carriage shortages.

Bosses blamed their problems on the terms of their franchise, which were set by the Government, and on maintenance problems.

Rail magazine claimed because the firm was swapping high-speed, long-distance trains for smaller commuter services, the number of seats on offer would go up, even though the number of services would go down.

But the train company says the increase in seats would be because carriages were being refitted with aircraft-style seating. A spokesman said that, thanks to additions to its fleet, the firm was running about 746 carriages across its franchise. With further additions, including the 89 high-speed trains, the January 2008 figure was more likely to be about 697 carriages.

He said: "While we recognise the figures in the article, the comparison does not reflect the actual level of carriage numbers now, but relies upon figures from the start of the franchise and compares them with a 2008 proposal.

"The magazine figures show a loss of 70 Class 180 Adelante carriages, but the article does not clearly demonstrate the increase in HST numbers of 89 carriages which will also expand the available seating capacity and carriage numbers."

Posted on 06:51 PM | Permalink

Financial Times: February 16 2007
By Bob Sherwood, London and South-East Correspondent

As many as 130,000 commuters could be forced to stand on overcrowded trains each morning within seven years as the number of workers traveling into London grows.

With an extra 600,000 jobs predicted in London over the next decade and thousands of houses planned for the south-east, the trend for City workers to commute from farther afield is expected to continue.

But their journeys are set to become more unpleasant, according to Network Rail figures in a paper from Passenger Focus, the government-funded rail consumer watchdog.

An estimated 70,000 passengers, or 15 per cent of all people traveling, had to stand on London-bound commuter services in the morning peak period in 2004, the latest date for which figures are available. The evening rush is slightly less congested with about 30,000 people failing to get a seat.

Without significant extra capacity, by 2014 those numbers will climb to 130,000 in the mornings and 67,000 in the evenings, when commuting times are more spread out.

One Network Rail consultation paper on the south-west mainline warns that passengers to London could have to stand from as far away as Southampton Central, a trip of more than one hour, by 2016.

Passenger anger about conditions is already evident: commuters on First Great Western trains between Bath and Bristol last month boarded with fake tickets saying “Class: Cattle Truck” to protest against overcrowding.

A leading Department for Transport civil servant also came under criticism recently for saying that passengers should not expect a seat in the morning rush hour.

Jane Cobell of Passenger Focus said substantial long-term investment was needed to provide longer and more frequent trains.

The Department for Transport said a rail strategy, due out in the summer, would give details of “how and where extra capacity can be created” to try to avoid the projected overcrowding. “We are already increasing capacity on Britain’s busiest rail routes and this remains one of the government’s long-term priorities,” it says.

But many transport experts believe overcrowding is inevitable, given the increase in commuting into London over the past decade and the projections for continued growth.

Stephen Glaister, professor of transport and infrastructure at Imperial College London, said providing seats for everyone during the morning peak would cost “several arms and several legs”. “The only way that money would be raised is through passenger fares and it’s just too expensive,” he said. “The passengers would never go for it.”

Posted on 05:26 PM | Permalink

Bath Chronicle: 14 February 2007

Trouble-hit rail company First Great Western is set to cut even more trains later this year, it was claimed today.

A specialist magazine says it has evidence that the much criticised rail company is planning to reduce the number of services it runs across its massive franchise area.

Furious passengers from Bath revolted last month and staged a massive fare strike over poor service and cuts introduced as part of timetable changes.

MPs have also criticised the firm in a Westminster debate.

Now further cuts look set to be introduced in the autumn, according to an industry magazine.

FGW bosses have blamed their problems so far on the terms of their franchise, which was agreed by the Government, and on maintenance problems.

The firm took over the franchise last April.

It combines previous franchises held by FGW and Wessex Trains and covers both local and long distance routes across an area spanning from Cornwall to London and includes all Bath's train services.

But the latest edition of Rail magazine, which is published today, claims that the situation is set to get much worse with FGW preparing to cut costs by further cutting train numbers.

The new cuts are also part of the firm's agreement with the Government.

The terms of that agreement, which cuts costs for both the Treasury and FGW, were widely criticised by transport lobbyists and local politicians during initial consultation, but their views were ignored.

Because FGW is substituting long distance high-speed trains for the traditional small commuter trains, the magazine says the number of seats on offer will actually go up under proposals for this year's autumn timetable, but the total number of services will go down.

A draft franchise document obtained by Rail shows the total number of vehicles operated by FGW is set to be cut from 702, with a total of 236,610 seats, to 643, with a total of 251,841 by next January.

Chris Irwin, spokesman for lobby group Travel Watch South West, said both the Government and FGW were to blame.

"What we have got is something that people with an interest in transport advised the Government very strongly against doing," he said.

"FGW signed up to doing this thinking they could get a certain amount of reliability but, as we have seen, they didn't achieve that which has meant people have been suffering very badly."

Current problems were set to get worse, he said, as extra carriages brought in to relieve short term problems were removed.

He described the increase in the number of seats that will come from stopping long distance trains at local stations as a "sleight of hand", arguing that crowded stations with short platforms, such as Oldfield Park, would only see limited benefits at best.

Overall, he said transport groups predicted a five per cent drop in capacity out of Bristol Temple Meads during the afternoon rush hour.

FGW refused to comment before the Rail article was published.

Yesterday morning rail passengers in Bath faced renewed misery as seats on the busy 6.47am service from Frome were cut again.

The number of carriages on the service was permanently restored from two to four after the major protests last month.

But a FGW spokesman said it had been cut back down to two again yesterday because of vandalism to carriages at its depot.

Posted on 09:49 AM | Permalink

RMT: February 16 2007

CENTRAL TRAINS has jeopardised its own rail services with a vindictive ban on overtime and rest-day working against 550 RMT senior conductors who are in dispute with the company over the imposition of centralised rostering.

Senior conductors, who will strike on February 24 for the fourth time in the dispute, have been told that they will not be required to work overtime slots they were scheduled for next week.

"The company is now cutting off its nose to spite its face," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"They have already escalated things by threatening to stop the pay of conductors who refused to issue tickets and send home those who refused to provide cross-depot cover

"Now it seems they have banned overtime and rest-day working, and they know full well that they have never been able to operate a full service without it.

"The laws says that the union needs to ballot its members if we want to ban overtime, but it seems Central Trains can do it whenever they like.

"Once more the company has shown that it is more interested in escalating the dispute than in finding a solution, and once more we say it is time to get around the table and negotiate a sensible solution," Bob Crow said

Posted on 09:45 AM | Permalink

International Transport Workers' Federation: 15 February 2007

The ITF is calling on transport unions to back a petition supporting trade unionists of a bus company union based in Iran.

Members of the Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company at their Executive Board Meeting on 26 December 2006

The petition marks the anniversary of the successful worldwide protest in 2006, which called for the release of Mansour Osanloo, President of the ITF-affiliated Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company; he was imprisoned twice over the past year.

The petition calls for some 50 dismissed bus workers who supported union action in January and February 2006 to be reinstated – half of them recently had their dismissal confirmed in a letter from the labour ministry. Latest news reveals that nine of the 50 workers have now been reinstated.

It also demands that the government fully recognise the union and that a collective bargaining agreement between the union and the company be negotiated.

The ITF and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has raised these issues with the International Labour Organization Freedom of Association Committee.

ITF Inland Transport Secretary, Mac Urata, commented: “Although we welcome the reinstatement of nine of the workers, this is not enough. We are renewing our efforts to advance trade union rights issues in Iran by asking you to sign our petition. We have chosen to commence this exercise on the anniversary of protests in more than 20 countries, organised by the ITF and the ITUC against the imprisonment of Osanloo. We thank you in advance for your support for this campaign.”

Links to the petition below:

Sign the petition to support Tehran bus workers

The ITF is asking you to sign the online petition in support of the Tehran bus workers, and urge the resolution of key issues in their ongoing struggles for basic trade union rights.

Click here to sign the petition >>

15 February marks the anniversary of the highly successful worldwide protest in 2006, demanding the release of Mansour Osanloo, President of the ITF-affiliated Syndicate of Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company (Sandikaye Kargarane Sherkate Vahed).

He was finally freed on 19 December but there are some key issues that remain unresolved in the union. We are therefore starting an international petition. Please click and visit our site and join the action.

Click here to sign the petition >>

We are renewing our efforts to advance these issues by asking you to sign our petition. We have chosen this day, 15 February, to commence this exercise as it is a day to mark the anniversary of the highly successful worldwide protest in more than 20 countries, which the ITF and the ITUC organised last year to demand the release of Mansour Osanloo.

Mansour Osanloo (left). The red solidarity flags behind them were signed by the ITF Durban Congress delegates in August and sent to the union.

We thank you in advance for your support towards this campaign. We are also very happy to inform you that the Farsi version of the ITF publication, “Workers Rights Are Human Rights” is now ready electronically. We sincerely hope that this booklet will become a tool to progress workers’ rights in Iran and elsewhere.

Complete online form: Petition to support workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Company

Posted on 09:15 AM | Permalink

The Jakarta Post: February 16, 2007
Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, Padang

West Sumatra marked the attempted revival of its railway network as a key means of transportation for civilians and cargo by launching the Padang-Pariaman route Thursday.

The train plying the 70-kilometer route will serve passengers daily, leaving Simpang Haru station in Padang at 6 a.m. and returning from Pariaman station at 4 p.m. the same day. The route formerly served holidaymakers every Sunday.

The passenger train was named Si Binuang after a buffalo that protected Cindur Mato, a founding figure of the Pagaruyung Kingdom in Minangkabau folklore. It was officially launched by West Sumatra's provincial secretary Yohannes Dahlan at Simpang Haru train station Thursday.

The event was attended by a number of regents and mayors, as well as officials from state railway company PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) and activists, who took a ride on the train.

PT KAI's West Sumatra Division head Sukirman Denin said the restoration of the Padang-Pariaman train route owed to the provincial administration, the Padang and Padang Pariaman municipalities and the Padang Pariaman regency, which allocated operational subsidies from their 2007 budgets.

The route will cost Rp 100 million (US$11,200) to operate monthly, returns of which will be paid to the respective areas from ticket sales.

"The launching of the Padang-Pariaman railway route is an initial and significant move to revive the railway network in West Sumatra," said Denin, adding that activating the new route will pave the way for public railway transportation in Padang city.

The West Sumatra Division of PT KAI and the provincial administration, supported by regencies and mayoralties, have planned to restore a number of other routes in a bid to boost the tourism sector.

Facilitated by Padang municipality, PT KAI is planning to establish railway links from the city center to Minangkabau International Airport, the Andalas University campus in Limau Manih, the Teluk Bayur Port, PT Semen Padang in Indarung and Pulau Air Padang, near Kota Lama in Muara Padang.

The subsequent program is to open a route for tourists from Padang to Sawahlunto through the Anai Valley in April. Tourists wishing to visit Bukittinggi and Payakumbuh will be taken by special buses from Padangpanjang.

PT KAI will work together with a private firm to revive the coal train -- which has been closed for the past four years -- from Padang Sibusuk (Sawahlunto-Sijunjung) to the PT Semen Padang cement plant in Indarung and Teluk Bayur Port.

"We are determined to optimize railway assets in West Sumatra with help from regental administrations, and are confident that with assistance from the provincial administration and other related regencies we can achieve the BEP in three years' time," Denin said.

PT KAI business development director Yulison Arifin said most of the railway routes in West Sumatra had been inoperative since 2004.

"The routes and lines would likely close in the end, and once they are closed West Sumatra's railway history is gone forever. Keep in mind that the railway was one of the province's economic pillars previously," Arifin said.

The railway service in West Sumatra played an important economic role during the Dutch colonial administration, alongside PT Semen Padang, the Ombilin coal mine in Sawahlunto and the Teluk Bayur Port.

Posted on 09:04 AM | Permalink

Bath Chronicle: 16 February 2007

Commuters who mounted a Train Watch to monitor First Great Western services say they have abandoned the scheme and plan more drastic action.

The campaign group More Train Less Strain (MTLS) set up the daily online report two weeks ago to ensure FGW delivered on its promises to improve services.

But now the group says it is so disenchanted with renewed overcrowding issues due to short trains, it is hatching an alternative plan.

MTLS spokesman Peter Andrews said: "We've put Train Watch on hold as we've had several real horror stories in the past week and we feel FGW is mocking us.

"After our fare strike, services went back to normal but this week trains with four carriages were again reduced to two.

"Apparently, train drivers have also not been turning up to work and I'm sure it's bad morale."

Mr Andrews said protesters were even more annoyed than when the problems began in December.

"It doesn't seem to matter if the public is up in arms as FGW seems to be going its own way to save huge amounts of money at the expense of the customer.

"We've got to hatch plan B but it won't be another fare strike."

Mr Andrews said fellow group member Tony Ambrose was holding talks with members of the RMT union.

"We also asked the rail minister Tom Harris to meet us and he refused and FGW's managing director Alison Forster has agreed to meet us but has not said when yet."

An FGW spokesman said some services in the west had operated with fewer carriages this week but this was due to them being vandalised at the Weymouth depot.

"Eight carriage windows were broken and there was also graffiti and interior damage," he said.

"We had to withdraw the affected carriages from service. This resulted in the 6.47am service from Frome to Bristol Temple Meads having to be shortened on Tuesday, with knock-on effects on capacity on some south coast to Bristol services on Wednesday."

See also:

COMMUTERS REPORT RETURN TO OVERCROWDING ON CARRIAGES

Bath Chronicle: 09 February 2007

A COMMUTER-led log of the way rail services are running has shown that overcrowding is still an issue.Bath-based protest group More Train Less Strain set up its Train Watch initiative two weeks ago to monitor whether First Great Western was delivering on its promise to improve services.

But after initial improvements when extra carriages were introduced, passengers say one of the key morning rush hour services is back to running as a short train.

The group also claims that passengers are still being stranded at the Bath area's smaller commuter stations, including Oldfield Park.

MTLS spokesman Tony Ambrose said: "Things aren't getting any better and in fact FGW has reneged on its promise to permanently increase the early train through Bath to Bristol from two to four coaches."

Mr Ambrose said he had again been receiving reports of "horrendous" journeys from passengers and had endured a very stressful commute from Bath to Bristol.

"Up until this week the capacity problem had improved slightly with the eight extra Trans-Pennine coaches, so while the trains have remained full-to-near capacity, generally people could get on the train," he said.

"This week the 7.28am through Bath to Bristol, which FGW made much play about increasing from two to four coaches on a permanent basis, has slipped back to two coaches.

"On Tuesday it was three and on Wednesday it was two with the consequence that I travelled with another passenger in the doorwell (inward opening doors that couldn't have been opened if there was an emergency)."

Mr Ambrose said the train was filled beyond capacity and left some passengers behind at Oldfield Park, and all passengers attempting to get on at Keynsham stranded.

"A passenger on the train said that until Wednesday the train service had not got better but had just been less worse," he said.

"However as the service is being run to its limits with no fall-back stock to cover for breakdowns, it only needs a breath of wind for the whole pack of cards to come tumbling down."

MTLS is currently in the process of arranging a meeting with FGW's managing director Alison Forster for next week, so that members can air their grievances in person.

See also:

SERVICES REMAIN UNRELIABLE, SAY COMMUTERS

Bath Chronicle: 02 February 2007

The campaign group More Train Less Strain says its most recent Train Watch figures prove services are still not up to scratch.Last Friday the 06.56am service from London Paddington to Swansea arrived at Bath Spa half an hour late. The 7.50am service arrived at Oldfield Park five minutes late, consisted of two carriages and was overcrowded with many passengers standing.

Results for Monday show that the 8.06am at Oldfield Park arrived on time with four carriages but the 8.06am on Tuesday only consisted of two carriages.

Lucy Tarallo, 23, catches the 8.06am from Oldfield Park to Bristol Temple Meads Monday to Friday and said services continued to be erratic. "On Monday it was fine but on Tuesday there were far too many people for just two carriages and lots of people were complaining," she said.

"I was forced to stand in an area where there are collapsible seats which were all full and as I'm only 5ft 2in, I couldn't even reach the rail above."

On his web blog Bath commuter John Dunn has been updating other passengers on his experiences commuting from Oldfield Park.

On Saturday he posted the following comment: "I am still not happy with the apology from FGW. Having initially blamed the overcrowding on temporary maintenance issues and teething problems (and the passengers for not wanting to catch the right trains), they have now said that they underestimated demand and withdrew too many carriages as a result.

"They surely did not think there was overcapacity on the network. The reason they withdrew the carriages was to save money, pure and simple. Customers were a second consideration."

Rail watchdog Passenger Focus said it had not carried out a survey since FGW's managing director Alison Forster issued a public apology, but felt FGW had much catching up to do before matching competitors.

Director Mark Woodbridge said: "Our most recent survey was published on Monday and we spoke to 2,697 First Great Western users. In comparison to the same period in 2005, they have remained static on 23 of 30 criteria and declined on seven criteria.

"Those seven are: ticket-buying facilities; the overall environment of the station; the availability of staff; a decline in toilet facilities on the trains; sufficient room for passengers to stand in; ease of getting on and off the trains and overall cleanliness."

Mr Woodbridge said perceptions of the service provided by First had worsened since the introduction of new timetables on December 10. "We saw the passenger reaction to that and it was not acceptable that so many passengers were being left at the platforms, unable to get on trains."

The regional director of pressure group Transport 2000, David Redgewell, said services were improving slowly. "But there's still a lot more to do and it's up to the Department of Transport to resolve it properly," he said.

To become involved in Train Watch email worstlatewestern@yahoo.co.uk .

Comment:

This comment was posted on my blog this week by "Whistleblower" I agree with you entirely about the ridiculous situation whereby you cannot reasonably buy a ticket and are penalised for not doing so. Customer Service in the 21st Century should mean "making it possible for the customer to get what they want when they want it".

My feeling is that if you choose to give us your custom and travel by rail then we should be asking you when and where you would like to buy your ticket and then making that happen. For instance - if you prefer to buy on the train then we should provide enough ticket sellers to make it possible. Unfortunately, the rail industry (infrastructure, working practices and attitude) is still Victorian and I cringe at the high-handed manner in which it treats its customers. (Perhaps you can tell that I'm not a natural railwayperson!) Sadly, I have to break the news to you that FGW still intends to introduce (and quite soon) the prospect of Penalty Fares on some of its routes. It will affect Bath, Oldfield Park and Keynsham to Bristol.

The introduction of ticket machines at these stations is not to make buying tickets easier, it is to allow the imposition of penalties easier. As long as the machine is working you will HAVE to buy a ticket BEFORE boarding the train. If you do not, for whatever reason (long queue, slow or bewildered user in front) you will have to pay a fixed penalty of £20 PLUS a standard day SINGLE ticket to your destination. Needless to say, the staff are horrified by the thought of it as it is so unfair. The penalty can only be imposed by a badged Revenue Protection Rottweiler and we are told that a new team will be recruited and based in the area. Probably ex-Traffic Wardens or Prison Warders who have been sacked for being over-zealous.

This system has run for years in the Southern Region and works smoothly because they provide ample ticket selling opportunities and reliable permanent barriers at ALL stations. I somehow doubt that FGW will have any sort of efficient system in place and will probably not even advertise the introduction of the scheme widely enough. I fear that many innocent travellers will be caught out. Could be the next big battle for you guys, with us in the middle. I'll let you know if I get any definite information.

John Dunn, Bath

Posted on 08:46 AM | Permalink

Bath Chronicle: 16 February 2007

Violent attacks on the region's railway workers have increased by almost 50 per cent in the past five years, according to new figures.

The rise has occurred despite a move by rail operator First Great Western to introduce special DNA kits to help convict passengers who spit at staff.

One transport campaigner said he believed the rise in violent incidents could be linked to passenger frustration at the declining quality of services.

According to British Transport Police figures obtained by the Conservative Party, there has been a steep increase in attacks on services across the west and Wales.

In 2001, the figure stood at 115. But in the year 2005-06, the number of assaults soared to 207.

Incidents in which passengers and staff members have been subjected to threats on broken down trains in the region have also increased.

In 2001 the number of threats recorded was 96, and this rose to 220 in 2004-05. The figure for 2005-06 fell to 197.

British Transport Police has also recorded a rise in incidents of passengers being drunk and disorderly on trains.

In the west and Wales last year, there were 29 incidents, up on the 2001 figure of 23. The number of cases peaked in 2004-05 when there were 40.

However, the number of British Transport Police officers physically assaulted on broken down trains in the region has dropped.

In 2001-02, 46 such incidents were recorded, compared to 43 in 2005-06.

Peter Andrews, of the Bath and Frome rail user protest group More Train Less Strain, said he was not surprised that levels of violence and threats had generally increased.

"The public in the west is obviously getting fed up with being treated like cattle," he said.

"It's understandable that people lose their tempers when they try to get home and find trains have been cancelled or they have to spend an hour-and-a- half standing on a train back from London.

"Violence is not a good idea and it doesn't help at all, but it seems the platform staff are suffering because of FGW's inability to organise a train franchise."

Conservative transport spokesman Owen Paterson said: "What these figures show is that in many parts of the country the situation is getting worse, not better, despite the increase in the number of British Transport Police officers.

"I am particularly concerned about the increase in the number of crimes involving drunk and disorderly passengers, as I'm worried the situation could be made worse by the way the Government has implemented changes to licensing laws to allow 24-hour drinking."

An FGW spokesman added: "While we cannot comment on claims made by political parties, we can confirm there is an annual pattern of drink-related incidents and assaults on board our trains.

"We work closely with the British Transport Police to improve the safety of our customers at stations and on trains.

"Recent initiatives include security screening machines at stations and improved CCTV and station staffing."

Posted on 08:42 AM | Permalink

Bath Chronicle: 10 February 2007

Your correspondent, Mick Stanley (Letters, February 1), has hit the nail on the head in saying that the recent December timetable instigated by First Great Western is based on shareholder satisfaction rather than that of its customers.

I have been regularly travelling between Bath and London Paddington since 1988.

In the days of (wrongly maligned) British Rail the fastest train took one hour and 12 minutes. Since First Great Western took over the franchise, the times have been gradually increased and the journey is now scheduled to take just over an hour and a half, an increase of 20 minutes.

Even with this generous journey allowance in a four week period just before Christmas 2006 FGW only managed to run 74.8 per cent of its high speed trains on time. This is a lamentable performance considering that "on time" includes a ten minute leeway beyond the scheduled time of arrival before the train is classified as "late". The December timetable has been a disaster, not just for local services but also for the high speed trains. FGW have axed the 7.52am train from Bath to London which used to be sandwiched between the 6.42am and the old 7.12am service.

The result of this is that there is overcrowding once the newly timed 7.07am train from Bath reaches Didcot and Reading but, because they have done this (and have doubtless saved a considerable amount of money as a result) the next train, the 7.42am, now stops additionally at Reading and Didcot whereas it used to be non stop from Swindon to Paddington.

FGW has had to make this a stopping service as they have an obligation to the rail regulator to provide a certain number of trains serving Didcot and Reading.

When the 7.42am ran non stop from Swindon it was called the Bristolian and was matched by an evening service, the 6pm from Paddington which stopped first at Didcot.

The 6pm now also stops at Reading and therefore, as mentioned by Mr Stanley, gets very full with short distance commuters causing passengers to stand at least to Reading.

Prior to the new December timetable coming into effect FGW stated on their website that the changes were being implemented having carried out "extensive consultation with passengers and user groups". This is disingenuous.

It would be more appropriate to state that it was carried out following extensive consultation with its accountants.

ANDREW MARRIOTT

Wright & Partners
Horseshoe Walk, Bath

Posted on 08:00 AM | Permalink

15 February 2007

A rail union has claimed that only luck has prevented further fatal "runaway" wagon accidents since the deaths of four railway workers in Cumbria.

The trailer rolled down the track before hitting the workers at Tebay

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said at least 10 potentially fatal incidents had taken place since the deaths at Tebay.

The claim was made on the third anniversary of the tragedy involving a 17-ton trailer.

However Network Rail stressed railway safety had vastly improved since Tebay.

The four men died when a wagon carrying steel rail tracks came out of the darkness and hit them as they worked on the West Coast Main Line in 2004.

Two men were subsequently jailed for manslaughter over the deaths.

"It is a disgrace that it is only luck that has prevented further unnecessary carnage" - Bob Crow, RMT general secretary

The RMT union made further calls for rail renewal work to be brought back in house at its health and safety conference in Blackpool on Thursday.

It claimed most of the incidents involved trolleys and on-track machines operated by a myriad of private firms contractors and subcontractors.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "There could have been 10 more Tebays in the three years since our four members were killed.

"It is a disgrace that it is only luck that has prevented further unnecessary carnage and for all we know the 10 reported runaways are probably just the tip of the iceberg."

A spokesman for Network Rail said it now had one of the best railway safety records in Europe and had halved the accident rate of its workforce.

He said: "Lessons were learned from Tebay and a myriad of new rules and restrictions have been imposed to make the railway a safer place to work."

Posted on 01:11 AM | Permalink

15 February 2007

The Department for Transport is not meeting most of its targets and lacks a "clear strategy" to put it right, a committee of MPs has concluded.

The DfT's efforts on air quality have been criticised

Targets for congestion, air quality, public transport and carbon dioxide emissions, are being missed, it said.

Of seven targets, the department was meeting only two, for road safety and rail punctuality, the report claimed.

The DfT said it did not agree with the committee's findings, but recognised there was still work to do.

"I imagine that most rail users would be surprised to hear their experiences described as the pinnacle of the department's annual achievements" - Gwyneth Dunwoody

Commons transport committee chairman Gwyneth Dunwoody said: "This is a terrible picture of failure."

"The department's only successes are against road safety and rail punctuality targets.

"And I imagine that most rail users would be surprised to hear their experiences described as the pinnacle of the department's annual achievements, while success against the road casualty targets is subdued by the daily toll of death and injury."

Bold measures

The committee said it was "dismayed" at attempts to improve air quality and said the DfT appeared to have "given up" for now on improving bus services.

It also criticised the performance of Tube maintenance company Metronet, the nationwide introduction of bus concessions and the rail franchising system.

The DfT, which spent £13.5bn in 2005-6, needed to take bold measures to improve people's experience of British transport, the report said.

But Ms Dunwoody said the department had not presented any evidence to convince the committee that there would be any radical change over the next five years.

"We are investing record amounts in transport, but we fully acknowledge there is much still to do" - DfT spokesman

"Without this vision, it also lacks a timetable of policies which are necessary to bring improvements," she said.

Ms Dunwoody also said road pricing would not solve all the problems of the road network, and public transport had to be improved and made more affordable as well.

The DfT was also accused of not "pulling its weight" on tackling climate change and improving air quality - which should be made a priority.

'On track'

In response, the DfT said it did not agree with the committee's characterisation of its work, but welcomed its support for its "measured approach" on road pricing.

It said public service agreement targets for rail punctuality had been achieved six months early and the target for road safety was "on track".

Progress was being made on the climate change and air quality targets although, a spokesman added: "We agree there is no room for complacency."

The department was continuing to work towards targets on congestion and bus patronage - for which it had announced new policies.

"We are investing record amounts in transport, but we fully acknowledge there is much still to do," the spokesman added.

"We will respond more fully to the Committee on the detail of the report in due course."

Posted on 12:55 AM | Permalink

RMT: February 14, 2007

TRAIN OPERATORS who say that violent crime on the railways has fallen are talking “complete and utter rubbish”, Britain’s biggest railway union said today.

The Association of Train Operating Companies, quoted today as claiming that rising assault statistics were the result of changes in the way offences were recorded, should stop trying to turn the truth on its head and confront the problem, RMT said.

“It is no surprise to hear train-operating companies say that the figures are up because more are being reported – they’ve been saying that every year for a long time,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

“But RMT members up and down the country are telling us that the assaults and abuse are getting worse, and the statistics tell the same disturbing story of a year-on-year rise.

“Our members are the ones who know, because they are the ones who have to get out there every day and night and face it – unlike the executives who are trying to kid us that it’s just down to a change in the way things are reported.

“Pressure to maximise profits means constant attacks on staffing levels, but rail workers and passengers alike want to see more trained, uniformed staff on all stations every moment they are open, and a guard on every train.

“Rather than attempts to turn the truth on its head we need zero tolerance of violence, proper enforcement of the railway bylaws and an adequately funded transport police force.

“The private operators say they encourage reporting, but our members tell us that they often make life difficult for those who report assaults.

“Bringing train operations back into public ownership as franchises expire would release cash currently removed from the industry as profits to help fund more staff.

“It is breathtaking to hear Tories bleating about railway violence, because it was they who handed the railways to the privateers who have been reducing station staff numbers ever since,” Bob Crow said

ends

For further information contact Derek Kotz on 020 7529 8803 or 07939 595 092

Notes to editors: Train operators constantly say they encourage reporting of assaults, but RMT members tell a different story.

Staff are often left in fear of reporting incidents because of the worry that if they report too many they will be regarded as somehow unsuitable for their job, a source of trouble or even somehow responsible for the attacks upon them.

The vast majority of guards and station staff on Northern Trains last year signed a petition calling for specific measures against violence, and for the company to enforce the railway bylaws fully.

RMT members on Southeastern are fighting once more to stop the company de-staffing ticket offices, only a year after earlier attemps to close ticket offices and cut station were beaten by passenger protests and strike threats.

The Railway Safety and Standards Board has consistently turned down RMT’s requests for an operator-by-operator breakkdown of assaults.

Posted on 10:11 AM | Permalink

Computing: 15 Feb 2007

The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) is considering the introduction of a computerised driver training simulation system to improve safety levels.

Safety body plans screen-based testing system

The organisation, acting on behalf of the UK’s train operating companies, wants to replace largely manual testing and introduce elements that include decision-making and train handling aptitude for drivers.

The current tests combine screen and paper-based tasks to test driver reactions to signalling and braking.

‘The job of a train driver has evolved and we need up-to-date tests that give a realistic indication of the work involved,’ said RSSB spokeswoman Diana Lucas.

‘We want to streamline the process and create one screen-based test that examines a driver’s capability. It is also an opportunity to offer new interactive testing that delivers better training and driver selection.’

Lucas says the RSSB hopes to replace its existing aptitude tests, based on antiquated technology which is difficult to maintain and upgrade, by the autumn.

The organisation has yet to settle on any specific software, but says it must test for criteria not currently included in its existing suite and be suitable for freight, passenger and on-track machine driving roles. It must also allow for analysis and reporting of test results and operate remotely.

Test results are recorded on a central database, owned by the Rail Assessment Centres Forum, which is likely to be upgraded to import results electronically.

Butler Group analyst Mark Blowers says the software will allow the development of a more interactive and comprehensive test that will make it more applicable to drivers.

‘The benefits of replacing paper-based services are well documented, including elimination of errors,’ he said.

‘Software testing also makes information available straightaway. With the cost coming down, it is more feasible for organisations such as the RSSB.’

Posted on 12:44 AM | Permalink

download flyer here

Thursday March 1 2007
7pm, House of Commons, Committee Room 12,
(Nearest Tube Westminster)

Confirmed Speakers:
John Hendy QC (chair)
John McDonnell MP
Tony Benn
Tony Woodley, T&G General Secretary
Bob Crow, RMT General Secretary
Katy Clark MP
Billy Hayes, CWU General Secretary
Matt Wrack, FBU General Secretary
Christine Blower, NUT Deputy General Secretary
Roger Kline, UCU Head of Employment Rights

United Campaign to repeal the anti-trade union laws - Join the campaign - visit www.unitedcampaign.org.uk

The Trade Union Rights and Freedoms Bill

The TUC has now finalised and published the content of the Bill.

John McDonnell MP was drawn sufficiently high in the recent Private Members’ ballot to be able to publish the Bill in Parliament, and on March 2 John will publish the Trade Union Rights and Freedoms Bill.

If enacted the Bill would significantly strengthen trade union rights, including:

* Better protection for striking workers
* Simpler and fairer industrial action balloting and notice procedures
* Reform of the use of injunctions by employers
* Allowing solidarity action in certain circumstances
* Prevention of the use of replacement labour during strikes
* Trade-union rights for prison officers.

To mark this important event the United Campaign to Repeal the Anti Trade Union Laws has organised a rally in Parliament on 1st March. The United Campaign is supported by 17 national trade unions and has played a key role in the Campaign for a Trade Union Freedom Bill.

Members of Parliament have been invited to the rally and the United Campaign is looking for the biggest possible turnout from the Labour Movement.

How you can help:

* Join the United Campaign get your trade union branch to affiliate -- get the form from www.unitedcampaign.org.uk

* Write to your MP asking that they sign Early Day Motion 532 in support of the Trade Union Freedom Bill

United Campaign to repeal the anti-trade union laws - Join the campaign - visit www.unitedcampaign.org.uk

Posted on 03:02 PM | Permalink

RMT: February 14 2007

AT LEAST ten more potentially fatal railway runaways have been recorded in the three years since four rail workers were killed by a runaway trailer at Tebay in Cumbria on February 15, 2004, Britain’s biggest rail union reveals today.

Each of the ten recorded incidents has involved a vehicle operated by the private sector, eight of them involving road-rail vehicles, trolleys or on-track machines operated by sub-contractors.

As delegates travel to Blackpool for RMT’s health and safety conference, which co-incides with the anniversary, RMT has renewed its call for an end to sub-contracting of renewals work.

“There could have been ten more Tebays in the three years since our four members were killed on February 15, 2004,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

“Track renewals are still dependent on a dangerous myriad of contractors, sub-contractors and one-man-and-a-trolley outfits, and despite our incessant demands for action the situation remains just as it was in February 2004.

“It is a disgrace that it is only luck that has prevented further unnecessary carnage, and for all we know the ten reported runaways are probably just the tip of the iceberg.

“One of the most recent, involving an RRV at Copenhagen Tunnel near King’s Cross last October, was a carbon copy of an incident in Stockport more than two years before.

“We were promised after the first of these incidents that action would be taken on the design and operation of the type of vehicle invloved, but it was only after it was repeated two years on that the Railways Inspectorate finally issued an improvement notice on Network Rail.

“Even then NR has been given almost another year to find a solution to the braking problem involved, and the inspectorate told RMT that it was ‘hoping’ that the improvement notice would spur NR to identify other types of vehicle with similar problems.

“From the body that is supposed to ensure our members’ safety, ‘hoping’ is simply not good enough.

“The chilling fact is none of these vehicles is owned directly by Network Rail or operated by Network Rail personnel, and that is the crux of the problem.

“It is only when Network Rail takes proper control of the assets and skills needed for renewals that we can begin to ensure that these vehicles are in working order and operated safely.

“Network Rail has already made its maintenance safer and more efficient by bringing it back in-house, and they now need to complete the job and bring renewals back in-house too,” Bob Crow said.

ends

Notes to editors: The fatal runaway incident at Tebay, Cumbria, took place on February 15 2004, killing four and injuring three. The ten incidents listed below are those recorded since.

1: May 2004 RRV Sheildmuir

2: August 2004 RRV Stockport

3: August 2004 RRV Stockport

4: November 2004 RRV Aylesford

5: August 2005 Loco Blake Street (Lichfield)

6: November 2005 Trolley Larkhall

7: August 2006 Loco East Didsbury

8: July 2006 Ballast cleaner Cheddington

9: November 2006 Cherry Picker Copenhagen Tunnel (Kings Cross)

10: December 2006 Multi-purpose veh Kingswood

Posted on 02:51 PM | Permalink

Der Spiegel: February 13, 2007 

Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan have signed an agreement to build a rail corridor that they hope will eventually link Europe with Asia. However, one country in the region -- Armenia -- is being left out.

The New Transcaucasian Railway

A railway through Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan will form part of a new "Iron Silk Road" -- following the route of the ancient trading link between east and west.

Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan have sealed an agreement to build a railway which would improve cargo transportation among the countries and eventually revive the historic Silk Road trade route -- linking Europe and Asia.

The Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan travelled to the Georgian capital Tbilisi last Wednesday, Feb. 7, to sign the three-way agreement with his counterparts, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. The three agreed that construction on the railroad would start this year and should be finished by 2009. It will consist of a new 100-kilometer railway line connecting the eastern Turkish city of Kars with Georgia, while another 300 kilometers of existing track will be renovated.

The governments hope this railway will connect eventually to the proposed Trans-Asian Rail Network, which is being supported by the United Nations. Transport ministers from Turkey, China, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan met last year to discuss the project, which could one day see passengers taking a train from London to China.

Peace and conflict in the Caucasus

The new Transcaucasian line: conspicuously avoiding Armenia - click to enlarge

The Ankara government has already forged closer ties with Georgia and Azerbaijan -- particularly for oil and gas delivery from the Caspian Sea -- with a pipeline connecting the Azerbaijani capital of Baku with Georgia and the Mediterranean Turkish port of Ceyhan. The former Soviet republics used to be connected by a Communist-era Transcaucasian Railroad, which once moved millions of tons of cargo every year; but traffic was suspended after the Iron Curtain fell.

Not everyone in the region welcomes the planned new Transcaucasian route. The government in Armenia has criticized the decision by its three neighbors to develop a corridor that avoids Armenia altogether. Leaders in Yerevan say the plan deliberately ignores the old rail link between Armenia and Turkey, which has been idle since the the two countries cut off diplomatic ties in 1993.

Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are not much better: The two countries bitterly disagree over the enclave of Nagoro-Karabakh. The mountainous territory inside Azerbaijan has been controlled by ethnic Armenian forces since a 1994 cease-fire ended six years of fighting, during which over 30,000 people died.

Posted on 02:34 PM | Permalink

BBC News: 13 February 2007

The parents-in-law of the Indian Railways Minister, Laloo Prasad Yadav, have been caught travelling on a train in the state of Bihar without tickets.

Mr Yadav is one of India's most colourful politicians

The couple - both in their seventies - told an inspector checking tickets in their first-class carriage that they "never travelled with tickets".

They were travelling from Harijur in Bihar to the town of Siwan.

Railway staff tried to eject them from the train after the ticket inspection, but the couple refused to be removed.

Corruption allegations

The BBC's Alok Kumar who witnessed the incident said that the elderly couple appeared confused about the need to have tickets.

India has a well developed train network

Our correspondent says that they repeatedly pointed out to the ticket inspector from East Central Railways that they had been put on the train personally by the station master at Haripur.

They said that there was "no need" for them to carry tickets.

Shiv Prasad Choudhary and his wife are the parents of former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi, who is the wife of Mr Prasad.

Mr Prasad was instrumental in getting his wife the chief minister's position after he was banned from holding the post because of corruption allegations.

Correspondents say that it is unclear what punishment - if any - the couple will face for the incident, which will be an embarrassment for Mr Yadav.

However railway sources said they will be fined in accordance with the rules and issued with "retrospective tickets" in order to legalise their journey.

Laloo Prasad Yadav is one of India's most colourful politicians. He leads an influential regional party in Bihar that is allied with the Congress Party in India's national parliament.

See also:

It's a conspiracy, says Lalu's aide

Times of India: 14 Feb, 2007

RSS Feeds| SMS NEWS to 8888 for latest updates
PATNA: Railway minister Lalu Prasad's parents-in-law were being booked for ticketless rail travel on Tuesday. His father-in-law Shiv Prasad Choudhary told the ticket checker that he and his wife were ill and were returning from Patna after a health check-up.

He pleaded that he did not have a ticket as the man who had come to see them off had forgotten to hand him the tickets. However, when Choudhary revealed his identity, the ticket checker became nervous. He charged them a penalty and issued tickets.

An angry Choudhary told reporters after getting down from the train at Siwan station that they had tickets. He accused the media of hounding them for a juicy story which had no basis. He, however, refused to show the tickets even as his wife threatened reporters with a lathi.

The elderly couple later left for their native village, Salarkelar, in Gopalganj district. Though their daughter Rabri did not react to the news, railway minister's private secretary Bhola Yadav described the brouhaha as a conspiracy to defame the railway minister.

What he gave as an explanation for travelling without tickets was, however, different. "They boarded the train at Hajipur without tickets because the train was about to leave. They got their tickets issued by the TTE inside the train."

When contacted, the railways came up with another version. North Eastern Railway's chief PRO M K Singh told TOI that the couple had second class tickets and wanted to get them converted to AC first class.

Posted on 11:29 PM | Permalink

Oxford Mail: 12th February 2007
By Giles Sheldrick

Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander has refused to meet Oxfordshire MPs to discuss "unacceptable" changes to commuter rail services.

Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander

Tory Wantage MP Ed Vaizey, Labour's Oxford East MP Andrew Smith and six other Thames Valley MPs, wrote to Mr Alexander last month.

Their letter said changes to First Great Western's timetable had caused "chronic overcrowding, delays and cancellations".

It read: "The situation is completely unacceptable.

"It is not an exaggeration to say that the impact of the timetable changes could damage the hugely successful Thames Valley economy."

The MPs requested an urgent meeting with ministers, FGW and Network Rail to try to thrash out a solution.

Mr Alexander left it to one of his junior ministers, Tom Harris, to respond.

Part of his letter said: "We do not at the moment see the need for a summit meeting of the sort you seek".

Mr Vaizey said: "It's outrageous that ministers should treat rail users in Didcot with such low regard.

"When hundreds of passengers are left stuck on overcrowded, delayed trains it is appalling that not a single minister can find time to discuss the situation with MPs.

"It's sad the Government seems to have no interest in resolving the current problems on the Didcot to London route.

"Whilst they may not care, I do and will continue to push for more and bigger trains."

Last month the Government launched a furious attack on FGW for its "disastrous" performance.

Train bosses responded by apologising to Oxfordshire commuters for removing "too much capacity" from the network during busy periods.

Posted on 12:27 AM | Permalink

Railway Market Magazine: 12 February 2007

With the opening of the rail freight market in Poland at the beginning of 2007, two non-Polish companies are leading the way in launching their activities on the Polish market.

Freightliner of the UK has established its Polish subsidiary, Freightliner PL, seeing opportunities in Poland's position as one of the world's largest coal exporters, as well as in the country's status as a transit country. Rafal Milczarski, the Executive Director of Freightliner PL, has stated that the company is currently securing the certification of its rolling stock, and recruiting.

Deutsche Bahn (DB), Germany's national rail company, is forming an alliance with PCC Rail, a private freight operator in Poland, owned by Germany's Petro Carbo Chem (PCC). The companies are reported to be in talks, and it is understood that Deutsche Bahn would transfer 50 locomotives to PCC Rail for the prospective new venture.

See also:

Poland: Szczecin port operator shares sold to PCC Rail

Railway Market Magazine: 12 February 2007

PCC Rail, the private rail freight operator in Poland owned by Germany's Petro Carbo Chem, has succeeded in its bid to buy a 46.2% stake in Drobnica - Port Szczecin, the port operating company located in Szczecin, north-western Poland. In doing so, PCC Rail has committed itself to developing the company.

The sale of the shares to PCC Rail is associated with the realisation of a new policy under which the management and operations of ports will be separated.

Drobnica - Port Szczecin handles a wide variety of types of freight, including containers.

Posted on 12:20 AM | Permalink

Reuters: Feb 12, 2007
By Edgar Ang

NEW YORK - The three-day-old strike at Canada's largest railway has already disrupted loading of specialty grains at Vancouver wharves, and logistics problems will spread to major grains exports if the strike is prolonged, shipping sources said on Monday.

Severe delays at the ports would cost shippers thousands of dollars in demurrage, and disrupt the country's grain export supply chain.

"Cargo loadings for green peas, wood pulp, lentils, sulfur and coal are affected by the strike, but the export activities for the major grains like wheat, soybean and canola remain normal so far," a ship broker said.

The union representing 2,800 rail conductors and yard service workers is set to strike on Saturday at Canadian National Railway Co. (CNR.TO: Quote) (CNI.N: Quote) CN has vowed to use managers to keep trains running.

Grain delivery to the ports was running normally on Monday, but some shipping sources expressed concerns about a potential slowdown later.

"It is too early to say the grain delivery will remain normal. It has only been a few days," a second broker said.

A spokeswoman at the Vancouver port was not immediately available for comment.

Although rail transportation of grains from the prairies was uninterrupted, sources reported problems of cargo transfers from the trains to the terminals due to a lack of workers operating at the end of the rail line.

"It would be a matter of time before the problem spreads to the export terminal facilities for the major grains," the first broker said.

The Canadian Wheat Board is worried that the rail strike could cause more delays for grain shipments that have already been slowed by harsh winter weather.

Wheat export shipments at Vancouver and Prince Rupert ports have been delayed by 10 to 14 days for the past month due to wind storms, mud slides, cold weather, rail washouts and lower rail car capacity, sources said.

Besides dry bulk, the rail strike was also expected to have an adverse impact on container shipping eventually, some brokers said.

In 2005, Vancouver port handled 1.76 million twenty-feet equivalent units of containers and 76.48 million metric tons of dry bulk cargoes.

"The container terminals at the port are full right now. So the container export should continue for a while more," a third broker said.

See also:

Canada Rail Strike May Hurt Auto, Metal, Wheat Sales

Bloomberg: Feb. 12
By Rob Delaney

A strike now in its third day at Canadian National Railway Co., the country's biggest railroad, threatens to disrupt C$50 billion ($43 billion) in trade with the U.S. in cars and auto parts made by General Motors Corp. and others, transportation analysts said.

Canadian exports of metals, lumber and wheat may also be hurt by the walkout of 2,800 conductors and yard workers that began Feb. 10, after the Montreal-based railroad failed to reach a new contract with the United Transportation Union. The railroad said today it will ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board to rule the strike illegal. No new talks are scheduled.

Canadian railroads carry 40 percent of the nation's freight by volume and a fifth in terms of value, said Barry Prentice, professor of supply-chain management at the University of Manitoba's I.H. Asper School of Business. A 28-day strike in 2004 cost Canadian National C$24 million, or 8 cents a share.

"Trade in autos and parts across the border is more vulnerable because it operates on a just-in-time basis and requires closer management,'' Prentice said in an interview.

Managers filling in for the striking workers at North America's fifth-largest railroad by revenue may be unable to perform double duties for more than a few weeks, Daniel Ortwerth, an Edward Jones & Co. analyst in St. Louis, said in an interview.

"The managers are hired to manage,'' Ortwerth said Feb. 10. "Conducting trains would have to impact their ability to get their jobs done.''

Shares of Canadian National rose 24 cents to C$53.34 at 4:10 p.m. on the Toronto Stock Exchange. They had risen 3.7 percent in the year before today.

Grain Shipments

The strike may impede wheat and barley shipments, suffering from two months of weather-related delays that have left ships in Vancouver and Prince Rupert waiting for 350,000 metric tons of grain, said Maureen Fitzhenry, a spokeswoman for the Canadian Wheat Board, the world's biggest seller of wheat and barley.

"This couldn't come at a worse time because we were hoping the rails would get caught up in February,'' Fitzhenry said in an interview yesterday. Member suppliers are paying about C$150,000 a day in demurrage fees, she said.

Talks with the conductors and yard workers, whose three- year contract expired Dec. 31, broke off over demands for "excessive wage increases'' of 4.5 percent in the first two years and 4 percent in the third year, Canadian National said in a statement yesterday. The union also is seeking a lump sum bonus of C$1,000 per year, the company said.

UTU-member employees earned an average of C$75,000 in 2006, Canadian National said.

Union spokesman Rex Beatty didn't respond to a request for comment left at his office today.

Other Contracts

The United Transportation Union is the only labor group unable to settle on a new contract with Canadian National. About 4,000 workers represented by the Canadian Auto Workers union ratified a new contract with Canadian National last month.

The strikers defied a requirement for approval from the United Transportation Union's Cleveland headquarters, making them ineligible for strike benefits.

Canadian National will ask the Canada Industrial Relations Board to declare the strike illegal, railroad spokesman Mark Hallman said in an interview today, citing the lack of authorization from the union's headquarters.

The board, an independent government tribunal that ensures parties involved in industrial disputes aren't violating labor laws, will meet tomorrow in Montreal, Hallman said.

"The rest have settled, and the fact that they're not getting strike pay makes one wonder how committed they are to staying out of work,'' Prentice said.

Exports

Canada exported C$35 billion worth of autos and parts by rail to the U.S. and imported C$13 billion in such products by rail in 2005, the last full year for which figures are available, according to data compiled by Transport Canada.

In 2005, Canada's railroads carried C$18 billion worth of lumber and forestry products, the second-largest export category after cars and auto parts.

An extended strike might further dampen the forecast for exports. The value of exports of goods and services from the world's eighth-largest economy will shrink by 1 percent this year, from growth of 2 percent in 2006, because of a slowing global economy and declining commodity prices, Export Development Canada, the country's export-finance arm, said Jan. 17.

Posted on 12:12 AM | Permalink

The Melbourne Age: February 12, 2007
Stephen Moynihan

CONNEX engineers had been scratching their heads since November as to why the Siemens trains wouldn't stop properly.

Illustration: Cathy Wilcox

For weeks they ran test trains up and down the Werribee line trying to recreate scenarios. But last weekend, as the test train was returning to its siding, a breakthrough occurred. By sheer chance, the test train failed.

Finally, Connex and Siemens had found the key.

"There was a test train returning in the middle of all of this and they could not replicate what was happening despite all the drivers telling them. It went into this condition and they saw it at first hand," a senior railways source told The Age.

"The engineers would have got there in the end but it was just a bit of luck."

Data loggers — similar to an airplane's data recorder — recorded what happened, providing the answer to the question of what has been crippling Connex for more than three months.

The problem has been identified as two related issues. First, the Siemens-built trains tend to experience wheel slips when the train wheel has poor contact with the rail. Connex says it has dealt with this by operating all Siemens trains as six-carriage sets, increasing the trains' weight and, therefore, grip on the rail.

Also, much of the sophisticated software used to control the train's braking system has been disabled to allow drivers more control of the trains.

Today, Melbourne's rail network will return to some normalcy. Almost 40 once-cancelled services will return to the timetable and remaining impounded Siemens trains will run.

But Connex and Siemens have admitted public confidence in the rail system has deteriorated. Connex chairman Bob Annells is uncertain whether his company will continue to operate the network when the public-transport contracts come up for renewal this year.

Commuters have not only voiced anger at Connex; but also at Siemens. An internal Siemens memo reveals some Siemens staff were the victims of "negative comments from the general public who have been upset about disruptions to the rail network". Local chairman Albert Goller told staff he was "shocked and distressed" to learn about the attacks.

Posted on 12:08 AM | Permalink

Bristol Evening Post: 12 February 2007

Two more platforms will be built at Bristol Parkway station in a major investment programme to increase capacity and reduce delays for rail passengers.

The extra capacity will reduce lost time when trains are forced to stop and queue for platform space at peak travel times.

Network Rail has already started work on a third platform, at a cost of £3 million, which is ahead of schedule and is due to open in May.

The platform will be able to accommodate eight-carriage intercity trains and will have a new waiting room and electronic travel information screens.

The new platform will ease congestion for trains coming into and departing from the station, heading to London and Birmingham.

Network Rail has also just secured development money to put forward the business case to add a fourth platform on the down line services serving Wales and the West Country.

MP Doug Naysmith was given the run down on the multi-million pound expansion by Network Rail's route director Robbie Burns.

Mr Naysmith said: "I am very pleased to see this money being invested in Parkway by Network Rail

"As a passenger who regularly uses the service to London the extra platforms should reduce waiting times, which has to be good news."

Mr Burns said the London end waiting room on platform one has been demolished and will be replaced by an extended waiting area along with facilities for a customer help desk.

First Great Western is contributing £100,000 towards the improved facilities.

He said: "More platform space will mean less waiting time for our passengers. We hope we can get an agreement for the fourth platform by the end of this year.

"There are also plans to increase the number of suburban services using Parkway, which is also good news for passengers."

The redundant platform facilities built by the Royal Mail several years ago will also be taken over by Network Rail and used as a training facility for its staff.

Car parking at Parkway is also set to be increased by about 300 to 400 spaces, which is a boost for commuters who use it as a park-and-ride.

Posted on 06:18 PM | Permalink

RMT: February 9 2007

MEMBERS OF Britain’s biggest rail union campaigning to stop cuts in ticket-office opening times will be at busy stations in London and Kent during Monday morning’s rush hour (February 12) to urge commuters to tell Southeastern to drop their latest cuts plan.

RMT activists will be distributing postcards with which commuters can tell passenger watchdogs that Southeastern's latest attempt to slash ticket-office opening times at dozens of stations is as unacceptable as the last time it was attempted, little more than a year ago.

Southeastern plans major cuts in opening times at 30 ticket offices in south London and Kent, leaving many of them unstaffed for long periods outside peak hours and at weekends. Cuts are also planned for dozens more stations.

Rail users have only until February 20 to register their opposition to the cutbacks by contacting the transport watchdogs London TravelWatch and Passenger Focus.

"The last time South Eastern Trains tried this on more than 3,000 people joined our campaign and passenger-power won the day," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"Our members also had to threaten strike action to stop their threat to slash station staff jobs.

"Barely more than a year later they are at it again, and this time passengers have only until February 20 to register their opposition.

"When we need to see more people encouraged on to trains and out of their cars it is a disgrace that a train operator should even contemplate a move that will only result in more deserted stations and more people deterred from using the railways.

"Rail staff and passengers have a common interest in telling Southeastern that we need to see more staff on stations, not fewer," Bob Crow said.

ends

Notes to editors:The 30 stations threatened with major cuts to ticket-office opening times are: Ashford, Beckenham Hill, Bellingham, Bickley, Chiselhurst, Crofton Park, Dover Priory, Eden Park, Farningham Road, Hastings, Hildenborough, Longfield, Lower Sydenham, Martin Hill, Meopham, New Beckenham, Newington, Otford, Queenborough, Rainham, Sandling, Sandwich, Sole Street, Staplehurst, Swanley, Swanscombe, Walmer, Westgate-on-Sea, Wye

Southeastern passengers have until February 20 to object to proposed cuts to ticket-office opening times. Objections should be sent to: London TravelWatch, 6 Middle Street, London, EC1A 7JA, and Passenger Focus, Whittle House, 14 Pentonville Road, London N1 9HF,

Posted on 10:02 AM | Permalink

Transport Briefing: 12/02/07

Railway track on the Nith Valley line between Gretna and Annan station in southern Scotland is to be redoubled by Network Rail at a cost of £35m.

The line improvements will mark one of the largest investments in the Dumfries region for many years and will create greater capacity on the route and result in fewer delays for passenger and freight trains. Redoubling the line also has the potential to improve journey times and increase opportunities for additional services.

The eight-mile stretch between Gretna and Annan is an important passenger route from Carlisle via Dumfries to Ayrshire and on to Glasgow Central. It is also the main route for the transportation of coal from the freight terminal at Hunterston in North Ayrshire and the opencast sites in South Ayrshire to power stations in England. Increased line capacity will allow peak time freight transport to be accommodated more easily than at present.

In addition, the double track will provide a new diversionary route for trains on the Glasgow and south west route, as well as Virgin Pendolino trains traveling up the West Coast Main Line.

Ron McAulay, Network Rail's director for Scotland said: "Gretna to Annan is an increasingly busy stretch of line in the Scottish rail network, both for freight and passenger trains. Doubling the track will reduce delays and make passenger and freight trains faster and more efficient."

Elaine Murray, MSP for Dumfries said: "This development marks a significant investment in Dumfriesshire’s transport network. It has the potential to result in reduced delays and journey times for passengers travelling to and from Glasgow. The increased freight carrying capability also has the potential to make a significant impact on the economy locally and for the whole of south west Scotland.”

Work on site is expected to begin in the spring for completion by February 2008. The upgrade will include improvements to Stonehouse road bridge, Bellevue road bridge, and Stonehouse farm access bridge.

David Mundell, MP for Dumfriesshire said: "This is an important investment for the Nith Valley line and should allow not just freight improvements but enhanced passenger services between Dumfries and Carlisle, which is a very popular route locally."

Ivor Hyslop, chairman of the South West of Scotland Transport Partnership, added: "This is wonderful news for the public transport network in Dumfries and Galloway. It has come at an excellent time when we are establishing the new regional transport partnership in south west Scotland."

See also:

£35m upgrade for rail route across border

News & Star: 10/02/2007
By Chris Story

AN IMPORTANT cross-border rail link is to get a £35m upgrade which could improve journey times and create new business opportunities.

Network Rail announced yesterday that it is to add an extra track to the existing single line between Gretna and Annan – one of the busiest routes into Carlisle.

The firm says the development will create greater capacity, result in fewer delays for passenger and freight trains, improve journey times and increase opportunities for extra services.

As well as being a busy passenger route between Carlisle and Glasgow, via Dumfries, it is the main line for the transportation of coal from Ayrshire to English power plants.

Network Rail says the doubled Nith Valley line will allow peak-time freight traffic to travel with greater ease.

It will also become a new diversionary route for trains on the Glasgow and south west route, as well as the high-speed Virgin Pendolino trains on the West Coast Main Line.

Work on the upgrade is due to start in the spring and be complete by February next year.

The announcement has also ignited fresh hopes of a new railway station being built at Eastriggs, something community leaders have long campaigned for.

Network Rail’s Scotland director Rob McAulay says the eight-mile stretch of track is becoming busier.

He said: “Doubling the track will reduce delays and make passenger and freight trains faster and more efficient.”

Politicians have praised the announcement – one of the largest ever investments in the area’s public transport system.

Dumfriesshire Tory MP David Mundell said: “This should allow not just freight improvements, but also enhance passenger services between Dumfries and Carlisle.”

Elaine Murray, Labour MSP for Dumfries, added: “Increased freight carrying capability has the potential to make a significant impact on the economy.”

Posted on 08:58 AM | Permalink

RMT: February 9 2007

THE TUBE’S biggest union has called for an external inquiry into the handling by London Underground of an incident near Barking last month in which two young men were killed when they were struck by a District Line train.

According to information obtained by the union, the presence of people on the line had already been reported to the District Line control room by a train operator, but the usual warning to drivers to proceed at an appropriate speed was not issued.

The train which struck the two men was travelling at its normal speed when the fatal incident occurred, at approximately 23:00on January 12.

RMT also understands that the electric current remained switched on for the 15 to 20 minutes it took for the police to attend the scene. Normal practice in such circumstances is for the current to be switched off.

The operator, understandably in shock, had been unable to leave his cab to ascertain the whereabouts and condition of those who had been hit. However, during this period RMT understands that the train operator was put under intense pressure to move the train regardless, and eventually did so.

In a subsequent debriefing the union understands that the operator was pressured to say that he had moved the train because he had felt threatened by the presence of others on the track, although the driver maintained that he felt coerced by the control room to move it.

"The railways inspectorate has already been alerted to what appear to be serious flaws in the handling of this incident," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"There must now be serious questions over LUL's handling of the tragedy, to the extent that we need a full inquiry to establish the facts, and to identify any procedural changes that may need to be made.

"If an attempt has been made to coerce a driver, already in shock, into changing his version of events, then that is a serious matter and completely unacceptable," Bob Crow said.

See also:

Union demands Tube death inquiry

BBC News: 9 February 2007

Daniel Elgar, pictured with his girlfriend, was a father of one

A union has called for an inquiry into the deaths of two men hit by a train apparently after spraying graffiti.

Daniel Elgar, 19, and Bradley Chapman, 21, died when they ran into the path of a District Line train at Barking station depot, east London, last month.

A security guard saw a group spraying graffiti nearby just before the crash.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) said despite a warning that someone was on the line, drivers were not told to reduce their speed.

Mr Elgar, of Southend, Essex, and Mr Chapman, of Grays, Essex, were pronounced dead at the scene on 12 January.

BBC London obtained the duty log of the 12 January line controller.

It shows the people on the tracks were reported by a worker at 2222 GMT.

But the control room did not ask drivers to slow down from the normal speed of 40 mph (64k/h) to a caution speed of 10 mph (16k/h).

'Attempt to coerce'

The RMT said the train that hit the men at 2305 GMT was travelling at its normal speed.

The union also claims that the electric current on the line was not turned off until police arrived about 20 minutes later, against normal practice.

The union said after the driver reported the incident, he was ordered to reverse the train by 250 metres to allow passengers to get off.

It claims he was then pressured to later say he moved the train as he felt threatened by the people on the track.

RMT says electric current on the tracks was left on until police arrived

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary said: "There must now be serious questions over LU's handling of the tragedy to the extent that we need a full inquiry to establish the facts and to identify any procedural changes that may need to be made.

"If an attempt has been made to coerce a driver, already in shock, into changing his version of events, then that is a serious matter and completely unacceptable."

London Underground said it would not be conducting a full internal inquiry.

The Railway Accident Investigation Branch said it would not conduct internal inquiries because it was a trespass incident, which was a police matter.

British Transport Police said it would be investigating the criminal activity and all evidence would be passed to the coroner.

Posted on 08:44 AM | Permalink

Today's Trucking: 02/12/2007

MONTREAL -- Just two days in, the labor battle between CN and 2,800 conductors and yard-service employees has turned bitter, with the railroad already threatening to sue union leaders over what it says is an "illegal" strike.

Canadian United Transportation Union leaders commanded the workers to walk of the job at midnight on Saturday after negotiations between the union and the company broke off.

CN continues to offer freight service across its Canadian network with management personnel filling striking workers’ jobs. So far, the company reports that things are running relatively "smooth."

According to CN, the UTU's final offer was wage increases of 4.5 percent, 4.5 percent, and 4 percent over three years. That's 40 percent higher than the increases negotiated in recent collective agreements for a comparable three-year period, claims the railway. The union is also seeking an extension on lunch breaks to 40 minutes.

The crucial Vancouver Port was reportedly not affected by the CN strike -- for now.

While relations between the union and company are obviously tense, it seems that an internal dispute within the union is also playing a key role in the conflict.

According to CN, the UTU's U.S.-based international president has not authorized the strike and general chairpersons have declined to pay employees strike pay -- rendering, CN claims, the disruption illegal.

The company filed a complaint with the Canada Industrial Relations Board on Saturday, claiming the union's pressure tactic is against the law.

"The UTU International, which is the certified bargaining agent for the employees, has not authorized this strike," said CN spokesperson Mark Hallman.

The union's chief negotiator, Rex Beatty, admitted to Canadian Press that there is a difference of opinion between Canadian union leaders and the U.S. parent, but that doesn't mean the strike isn't legal. "…The constitution of the union cannot supersede the law," he said.

E. Hunter Harrison, president and CEO of CN, said in a press release that the union's demands don't make economic sense. "A settlement must be economically sustainable and maintain the company’s competitiveness in the transportation marketplace."

CN says the average 2006 annual wage increase in major collective agreements in the private sector was 2.1 percent, which is the same as the transportation industry average. Last year, notes the railway, the average annual UTU employee made $75,000, with a quarter of members making more than $90,000.

CN and the UTU are maintaining normal commuter rail operations on CN lines in Toronto and Montreal. Also excluded from strike action are UTU members employed on CN's Northern Quebec Internal Short Line, Algoma Central Railway in northern Ontario, and Mackenzie Northern Railway in northern Alberta.

As of Sunday evening, rail-bound freight at the Port of Vancouver was moving normally, although some workers did set up demonstrations just outside the main port's gates over the weekend.

Posted on 08:23 AM | Permalink

New Vision: 11th February, 2007

THE Government is providing the Uganda Railways Corporation’s new private owners, the Rift Valley Railways (RVR), with a $15m (about sh26b) political risk guarantee, a senior finance ministry official disclosed last week.

RVR, owned by South African parent company Sheltam Trade Close Corp, beat a rival bidder from a group led by Rail India Technical and Economical Services.

The guarantee will be underwritten by the World Bank’s Multilateral Insurance Guarantee Agency but premium payments will be met by RVR and not the Government.

The political risks covered by the guarantee are the expropriation of assets like it happened to the Asian community in 1972 or changes in the law that could affect the concession.

RVR, who last year won the right to run the Uganda and Kenya railways, paid Uganda a $2m (sh3.5b) entry fee and will pay 11.1% of gross revenues as annual fees to the two countries for the 25 years of the concession.

The new rail owner has also delivered a $3m (sh5.2b) performance bond they will forfeit.

At the end of the concession, the Government will have the right to repossess the railway assets.

In reports published in the press last week, the wrong impression was created that the Government was raising the sh26b to prop up Rift Valley Railways’ operations.

“During the 25 years, RVR is expected to invest money in the railway.

“It is this investment that RVR is insuring against,” the Privatisation Unit’s director, Michael Opagi , explained.

Under the terms of the concession, RVR has an obligation to invest in development of the railway network.
To that end, RVR has already borrowed $64m (sh120b) and put up $24m (sh45b) as equity.

Kenya has already provided a $45m (sh79.2b) partial guarantee while Uganda’s $15m (sh26.4b) guarantee still awaits Parliament’s approval.

See also:

Uganda: Here Are the Facts About the Shs26 Billion for Railway Investor

The Monitor (Kampala): February 15, 2007
OPINION, Jim Mugunga

The Daily Monitor, in its report published February 9 under the headline 'Govt to give Shs26bn to broke Railway 'investor' got it all wrong and did a disservice to its readers.

The headline made a serious and unqualified assertion that few people with knowledge of regular journalistic practice would justify. To declare someone broke, despite the far-reaching consequences for such a declaration, is a grave and dangerous misnomer.
Western Union

To refer to the Rift Valley Railways (RVR) as broke, based on the contents of the story, was unfortunate and reckless. This is a consortium whose bid was accepted by Kenya and Uganda, operating two separate control systems. Both countries were satisfied with the suitability of the investor.

RVR, likewise, proved its seriousness by committing $88 million (Shs165 billion); making good on all payments as were supposed to be made under contract i.e. $2 million (Shs3.7 billion) entry fees and $3 million (Shs5.5 billion) performance bond in the case of Uganda.

Financial undertakings of a similar nature but for bigger amounts ($3 million entry fees and $7 million for the bond) were made and fulfilled for Kenya. Hence for purposes of entry the consortium is rightly in charge and for purposes of operating the business it continues to regularly meet its financial obligations.

The most confusing part of the report was the reference to the $15 million Partial Risk Guarantee (PRG) as a loan intended by government to bail out the investor. There is, of course, also the insinuation that the so-called loan is an invention outside the joint concession contract documents.

The PRG is a facility provided by the World Bank to cover the eventuality that the concession is terminated either owing to a default by government or indeed on account of failure by RVR to perform in which case government would owe the concessionaire money accruing from the unused portion of his investments.

In order to trace the origin of the PRG, one needs to go back to all joint concession documentation and contracts as entered into by the parties to the concession. The Concession Agreements provide that in the event government terminates the concession on the basis of failure (default) by the concessionaire, the concessionaire shall pay to the government in United States dollars within 30 days after the termination date:-

any concession fees or other sums payable by the concessionaire to URC as may have accrued up to the time of termination, and the cost of re-tendering the concession; the cost of returning the conceded assets to the standards stipulated in the agreement (in good condition) and delivering it to URC; and compensation by way of liquidated damages, amounting to:

(i) the concession fees for the previous two years, or

(ii) $3.5 million.

On the other hand, the agreements also provide that in the event the concessionaire terminates the concession on the basis of failure by government, government will pay the concessionaire in United States dollars within 30 days after the termination date:-

(a) all costs directly and properly incurred by the concessionaire in terminating any sub-contracts relating to the freight services as a direct result of government failure (default); and

(b) compensation for liquidated damages, amounting to the lesser of:

Concession fees in the previous two years, or $3.5 million.

Matters of accounts

The agreement provides that the depreciation charge on all the conceded assets shall be kept. On the other hand, the depreciation charge on the assets bought by the concessionaire shall also be kept.

These shall be recorded in the Conceded Assets Account. Upon termination of the concession, a reconciliation of the two accounts (Depreciation on Conceded Assets vs Depreciation on the Assets Financed by the Concessionaire) is done; if the balance on the Conceded Assets Accounts is negative, government shall pay such amount to the concessionaire and if it is positive, the concessionaire shall pay such amount to government.

The record in the Conceded Assets Account can be likened to a record of the usage of the assets; both conceded by URC and those funded by the concessionaire in a bid to meet the targets in the concession. If the net usage is in favour of the government, then government pays and vice versa.

It is in light of the above, that the PRG as contained in the Direct Agreement is necessary and indeed a component of the whole transaction to give comfort to RVR that in the event that GoU has the benefit of usage, then they will be paid. Its design and structure will in summary be rooted in the following sets of documentation:-

Guarantee Agreement: Between the World Bank and the Concessionaire. The World Bank will guarantee that in the event that the government does not pay the amount owing within the 365 days as per the Loan Agreement, it will pay the same for and on behalf of the government.

Indemnity Agreement: Between the government and the World Bank. Under this agreement, government indemnifies the World Bank for any payments made by the Bank under the terms of the Guarantee Agreement.

Loan Agreement: Between the Concessionaire and Government. Upon occurrence of a default/failure by the government, and the amounts owing by government determined, to allow government ample time to pay it, under the Loan Agreement the amount owing is deemed to be a loan from the Concessionaire to the Government. The Loan will be payable within one year.

For clarity purposes, the fees/costs of the PRG are met by the concessionaire and not government and indeed as Privatisation Unit Director Michael Opagi put it, "during the 25 years RVR is expected to invest money in our railways. It is this investment that RVR is seeking insurance cover for."

It is standard practice for modern-day investors to seek guarantees against various forms of uncertainty and this is not exclusive to Uganda. For example, in yesteryears whereas political instability (read military coups) were hardly uncovered and possibly a taboo to talk about despite being common, in today's modern business world, political or PRGs are provided in many transactions. Serious investors will seek protection from political calamities that threaten their investments just as is the case for "natural" adverse effects climatic change.

For Uganda to attract and retain serious investors, the sooner we embrace modern world standards without compromising transparency the better.

The writer is spokesman for the Privatisation Unit in the Ministry of Finance.

Posted on 06:08 AM | Permalink

The Globe and Mail: 11/02/07
JONATHAN MONTPETIT

MONTREAL — A bitter labour dispute is shaping up at Canadian National Railway as management seeks to have a strike by its conductors and yard-service workers declared illegal.

About 2,800 members of the United Transportation Union employed by CN walked off the job early Saturday after negotiations in Montreal broke down.

The strike isn't expected to affect Via Rail service or commuter trains in Montreal and Toronto.

CN filed a complaint with the Canada Industrial Relations Board Saturday morning claiming the union's pressure tactic is against the law.

“The UTU International, which is the certified bargaining agent for the employees, has not authorized this strike,” said CN spokesperson Mark Hallman.

The union admits that while its international president — who is based in the U.S. — has not provided authorization, it does not affect the legality of the strike.

“There is definitely a dispute internally with the Canadian portion as compared to our American parent,” said the union's chief negotiator, Rex Beatty. “But what you have to look at is the constitution of the union cannot supersede the law.”

Mr. Beatty said the principal issues at stake are what he calls “harassment and intimidation” issues.

Late Saturday, the union that represents CN Rail's locomotive engineers said they had also filed a complaint with the Canada Industrial Relations Board — against CN.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference said in a news release that CN is “attempting to unilaterally change working conditions (and work functions) of locomotive engineers” as a result of the strike.

They say these changes are against their collective agreement with CN.

The organization said they're asking the board to order CN to stop any “any continued or further breaches of the Canada Labour Code,” and to reimburse the union for costs associated with the alleged violations.

They also said they're in full support of the United Transportation Union's action against CN.

The United Transportation Union is seeking a 40-minute lunch break on nine-hour shifts instead of the current 20-minute break. It is also seeking a 4.5 per cent wage increase over two years, along with 4 per cent increase in the third year of the contract.

Mr. Hallman wouldn't comment on the union's demands, saying the company does not want to negotiate through the media.

But with the strike barely one day old, it already has the makings of an acrimonious dispute.

CN says it is attempting to sue union leaders for damages caused by the strike. The union claims the company is also trying to force workers back to work by telling them the strike is illegal.

“The problem with that is they got the cart ahead of the horse,” said Mr. Beatty, pointing out that the industrial relations board has yet to rule on the legality of the walkout.

Mr. Beatty expects the board to rule on the strike in the coming days.

CN plans to continue its freight operations across Canada during the dispute, with management personnel performing union jobs.

“CN regrets that this strike has happened, but we are prepared to operate with management personnel... for as long as it takes,” Mr. Hallman said.

Mr. Beatty was skeptical about how long management would be able to keep CN's freight network running.

“The system will implode, it will come to a grinding halt,” he said. “It may take a few weeks, but it will definitely happen.”

The Canadian Wheat Board, the single largest rail shipper in Western Canada, has already expressed fears the dispute could result in delays for clients.

The board's President and CEO Greg Arason told the Winnipeg Free Press on Saturday that he expects that some trains won't make it.

“It's definitely a major concern for us,” the Winnipeg-based Mr. Arason said from Vancouver.

“We have been in a backlog situation with shipments to the West Coast. We already have ships waiting, and this will make it worse.”

No new negotiations between the two sides are scheduled.

Posted on 12:09 AM | Permalink

RMT Bristol Rail branch and Bristol Trades Union Council will jointly host a meeting with a delegation from the Israeli Workers Advice Centre, on Thursday 15th March at 6.30pm, in Transport House, Victoria Street, Bristol.

The meeting is open to all trades unionists in the Bristol area who would like to meet and make links with an Israeli organisation which is working with Jewish and Arab workers in unity and as equals.

Swindon TUC is helping to organise the visit of the Israeli Workers Advice Centre to Britain. The delegation will arrive on March 11th and return late on March 17th. The purpose of the visit is to provide the opportunity for WAC to meet with Trades Unions and union activists, and to acquaint them with the work it is carrying out in organising workers, and to develop fraternal links with unions here. The delegation will comprise Assaf Adiv (National Coordinator), Khitam Na’amneh (Women Workers Organiser) and Roni Ben Efrat (International Relations).

The delegation will be meeting with the FBU and the RMT, the TUC’s International Officer, and the Chair of the NUJ’s policy committee. A meeting has also been arranged with union international officers and members of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s Trade Union Advisory Committee. They will be meeting some MPs at the House of Commons. Public meetings are being organised in Oxford (March 14th) and Bristol (March 15th), hosted by Oxford TUC and Bristol RMT (details to follow). The delegation will be visiting the Swindon GMB office to learn about the work of the union in organising migrant workers.

The organisations sponsoring the visit include the FBU, RMT, Bridgwater TUC, Swindon TUC, Oxford TUC, Bristol RMT, Waterloo RMT, and Wiltshire & Swindon GMB

WAC, as the name suggests, originated as an advice and support centre, mainly (though not exclusively) for Arab Israeli citizens, who constitute an oppressed minority within the Israeli state. However, this activity led to WAC having to address collective issues, especially in relation to employment.

WAC’s activities have included the campaign, ‘A Job to Win’, which aimed to get Arab Israelis back into the construction industry. Many thousands of them had been replaced by cheap, terribly exploited foreign workers. WAC had to challenge the common prejudice that Arabs were lazy and did not want to work. It succeeded in finding around 1,000 people jobs at union rates, with full social benefits.

WAC is involved in campaigning for jobs in agriculture, a sector where super-exploited migrant labour has tended to be used. It has organised women workers in particular.

In early 2006 WAC launched Wisconsin-Watch. It helps people affected by the Wisconsin programme (borrowed from the US) which forced the unemployed to work for their benefit. WAC exposes the nature of Wisconsin and opposes privatisation of public services for the unemployed.

WAC employs legal advisers and attorney on a pro bono basis to provide services to its members.

WAC has been assisting in the struggle of unorganised workers in Israel’s Educational TV. Although they do the same job as regular workers, they were employed as ‘freelancers’ and then fired to avoid awarding them tenure and basic social benefits.

It collaborates with other workers’ initatives and NGO’s in struggle against exploitation of migrants, against the Wisconsin plan and privatisation. It takes part in coalitions of social organisations for workers’ rights, such as Kav Laoved, Hotline for Migrant Workers and Tel Aviv’s legal clinics to protect the rights of workers. It also participates in the Coalition of Organisations against the Wisconsin Plan.

One of the important things about WAC, in the circumstances in which it operates, is that it comprises Jews and Arabs working together as equals. It strives for a working class perspective in a part of the world where the conflict is supposed to be one between Jews and Arabs.

WAC has fraternal relations with the PGFTU (the Palestine trade union federation based in the occupied territories). The PGFTU supported WAC when the Israeli state attempted to close it down.

Publications wishing to arrange interviews with the WAC delegation should ring Martin Wicks on 07786 394593 or email Swindon TUC at: swindontuc@btinternet.com .

You can visit the WAC website at: http://www.workersadvicecenter.org

You can contact WAC National Coordinator Assaf Adiv directly at: assafa@maan.org.il

Posted on 03:25 PM | Permalink

The Sunday Times: February 11, 2007

ST PANCRAS STATION, by Simon Bradley
Profile £14.99

Beautiful and sinuous: the staircase of the Midland Grand hotel at St Pancras station
Reviewed by Andrew Martin

During the past few years, we train fans have formed the idea that railways might be on the point of a big comeback. The hope rests on the glories of our railway history, the environmental logic of rail and the unquestionable glamour of Eurostar, the first train for decades with the right arrogance about it. In November this year, all three will be celebrated, when St Pancras station — described in this erudite and readable book as a “wonder of the world” — becomes the terminus for the high-speed rail link to Europe.

St Pancras was built by the Midland Railway in the 1860s, when the ambition of our railways, if not yet their track mileage, was at its height. The station was constructed in two parts. Arriving passengers first saw the train shed, the railwayman’s term for a station roof. The one at St Pancras was the biggest yet built in Britain, and anyone waiting for a train underneath it while clutching a cardboard cup of railway coffee is still likely to feel strangely insignificant.

The shed was designed by William Henry Barlow, an engineer, and Simon Bradley’s description of how he achieved such “volumetric clarity” is illuminated by lyrical touches. The horizontal supports were buried underground, so that the station seems to be all arch, with no clutter of cross spars of the kind forming a “visual mist” at, say, Liverpool Lime Street. The design also minimised the contraction and expansion of the metal, so that there would be only a slight rise or fall of the crown, “like the shallow breathing of a mighty creature in its sleep”.

But St Pancras is better known for the Midland Grand, its disused gothic-revival hotel that dominates the Euston Road like a sort of levitating Dracula’s Castle, shamelessly upstaging its modest and utilitarian neighbour, King’s Cross. Its mouldering, cavernous interior could be inspected on guided tours until quite recently. Films were shot there, including — perfectly logically — Batman Begins, and the legend grew of a ghost, a man eternally walking up the beautiful, sinuous staircase.

The hotel was designed by George Gilbert Scott, whose character is vividly evoked by Bradley. He looked like Gladstone — huge brow and big features apparently chucked together by some creator in just as much a hurry as he himself would be for most of his life. Scott designed perhaps as many as 1,000 buildings. As Bradley notes, in England and Wales only Cardiganshire is “Scott-free”. He dashed about on trains, and was known for marching into half-built churches and ordering corrections, only for someone to gently point out that, in fact, the one he was designing was a little way down the road.

For all his hectic schedule, Scott spent thousands of hours in prayer, and for him gothic architecture was a style endorsed by God. It was a signifier of national identity, evoking the medieval origins of church and state, and of course any Johnny-come-lately railway company on the make (which about sums up the Midland) would want to borrow such gravitas. Bradley makes clear that Scott also saw gothic as a “go-anywhere style for the modern age”, and we are told how he accommodated it to the times (patterned glazing reserved for windows with less attractive views, steep roofs and gable ends not simply piled on but carefully employed to break the monotony of the London skyline).

To early-20th-century eyes, however, this attempt to marry the age of steam with the age of chivalry — not angels but engine drivers depicted on medieval-style capitals — was beginning to look rather peculiar, and by then the hotel was failing. Yes, the Midland Grand had a lift (or “rising room” as it was called) and a pioneering revolving door, but the great mid-Victorian hotels were all, in a sense, false starts, being attempts to accommodate hundreds using the technology of coaching inns. Bradley describes the dozen joints always roasting before the kitchen fire and the dust chute into which the ashes from the hundreds of fireplaces were poured.

The hotel paid a man 10 shillings a week to chalk up the scores in the billiards room; it incorporated 10 pianos and an Electrophone, “a one-way telephone . . . with an apparatus that allowed up to eight people to listen in to live concerts, public speeches and church services”. But by 1935, the hotel had been eclipsed by others featuring such mod cons as bathrooms, and it was turned into railway offices. In 1966, British Rail — hungry for rationalisation — nearly demolished St Pancras. It was saved largely because of a campaign orchestrated by John Betjeman, who, I would have thought, merits more than the two glancing references he receives here.

This is, though, a very small criticism of a work that Bradley, being both the descendant of railwaymen and the editor of the Pevsner Architectural Guides, might have been born to write. His book stands as one of the first of what will surely be many happy consequences of the St Pancras revival.

Posted on 11:47 AM | Permalink

The Times: February 10, 2007
Joe Bolger

Rail companies trying to replace GNER as the operator of the East Coast mainline rail franchise are to be kept waiting up to a week and a half longer before they learn if they have been shortlisted to bid.

The Department for Transport (DfT) is understood to have told those companies that have expressed an interested in the franchise that the initial shortlist will not be drawn up for another ten days.

The bidder shortlist was due to be announced yesterday under the timetable outlined to prospective bidders.

Industry insiders have expressed concerns over the relatively tight bidding schedule, which foresees GNER giving up management of the franchise by the end of the year. A delay in the initial prequalification round could, it is feared, push back later rounds.

National Express, First-Group, Arriva and a joint venture between Virgin Trains and Stagecoach are understood to be among the transport groups that have indicated an interest in tendering a full bid for the £1 billion franchise, which will run for up to seven years.

The DfT is planning to issue a call for formal bids to shortlisted parties next month. Prospective operators would then have until June to submit proposals.

The successful bidder is due to be announced in July or August, according to the target timetable, with a handover from GNER expected in late autumn .

The consultation period over the franchise plans finishes on February 15. Feedback may then be incorporated into the official documents sent out to shortlisted bidders in March.

The franchising process hit controversy late last year when the DfT said those companies interested in taking control of the London to Leeds, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh line had one month to register their interest.

Rail executives complained that the one-month deadline, which included the Christmas holiday period, left just 18 working days to complete prequalification documents and legal work. That effectively excluded bidders that had not prequalified for the franchise in 2004, when it was last awarded, executives said.

GNER, which has held the East Coast franchise since privatisation, won the ten-year franchise in early 2005, on a £1.3 billion bid. However it struggled to meet repayments as energy costs increased and as passenger numbers disappointed.

GNER had sought to renegotiate its franchise, which had been due to run until March 2012, but the Government declined.

Posted on 11:44 AM | Permalink

Patna Daily: Feb. 11, 2007

Indian Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, during his unannounced visit to Patna Junction on Sunday, threatened to fire a number of railway employees after he noticed many infractions including filth on tracks, unkempt platforms, sub-standard food items at the railway canteen, and leaking roof above the platform.

Railway Minister visits Patna Junction. Photo by Shashi Uttam

Yadav, who arrived at the railway station at around 10:00 am, spent over an hour there checking everything from cleanliness to the quality of food served in the canteen. Not satisfied with what he saw, the Railway Minister ordered the railway GM Girish Bhatnagar to suspend all those employees who, he said, were not performing their duties diligently.

He was also not too pleased by the late arrival of Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Pankaj Jain who could not reach the railway station until Yadav was about to leave. "The station is cleaned only when they know I am coming to check things out. Otherwise no one seems to be doing his or her job," an angry Railway Minister told the DRM ordering suspension of nearly a dozen railway employees.

Yadav, after instructing the DRM to ensure the railway station always remained in a spic and span condition, left for New Delhi on a special train.

Posted on 10:07 AM | Permalink

Associated Press: February 9, 2007

MILAN, Italy -- Italian defense company Finmeccanica SpA said Friday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with state-owned JSC Russian Railways for the creation of a high-speed rail link between Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Italy's state-owned railway operator Ferrovie dello Stato also signed the memorandum.

Finmeccanica and Ferrovie dello Stato did not provide any financial details nor did the company say when construction would begin.

"We hope to sign the binding agreement in March," said Ferrovie dello Stato Chief Executive Mauro Moretti.

Finmeccanica said in October it had signed an agreement with JSC Russian Railways to work together on the production, technical assistance, and marketing of rolling-stock and rail infrastructure in Russia.

Moretti said the three-way partnership also aimed to develop high-tech railway products to export to international markets, especially in Eastern Europe.

The partnership is watching with interest a tender to build a US$2 billion (€1.54 billion) railway in Saudi Arabia, in which Russian Railways is participating, he said.

The winner of the tender was expected to be announced at the start of 2007, according to a Russian press report. It will be the longest railway in the Middle East.

Posted on 09:13 AM | Permalink

Western Mail: Feb 10 2007

THE UK's largest rail and bus operator FirstGroup yesterday agreed a £1.9bn deal to acquire US group Laidlaw, the yellow school bus giant and owner of trans American bus company Greyhound.

The deal will see Aberdeen-based FirstGroup become the biggest single school bus operator in the US, combining its existing Stateside company First Student, which it acquired seven years ago, with Laidlaw's school bus business, which operates across 37 states in America and six provinces in Canada.

FirstGroup will issue £200m of new shares to finance the deal, which it said was not conditional on the takeover going ahead.

Reports yesterday suggested the takeover may face opposition from unions in the US, with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters - the body which represents many US school bus drivers - understood to have vowed to oppose the deal.

It is thought the combination may also cause some competition issues, possibly forcing FirstGroup to pass up some school board contracts.

FirstGroup played down concerns over a conflict with the Teamsters union.

Moir Lockhead, chief executive of FirstGroup, said, "I don't see it being a problem. We deal with more than 20 unions in the US, Canada and the UK and our relationships are excellent."

The company said there would be less than 3% of "synergies" within the two groups, and said it did not anticipate making job cuts among "front line staff", with overlap more likely on the corporate compliance side.

The combined group will employ more than 98,000 staff in North America if the deal goes through, running about 63,000 yellow school buses across the US and Canada.

FirstGroup made its first move into the States with its acquisition of school bus operator Ryder, since rebranded First Student, in 1999 in a deal worth £540m.

In the UK the firm operates one in five local bus services carrying 2.9 million passengers a day and runs four rail franchises - First Great Western, First Capital Connect, First TransPennine Express and First ScotRail.

The firm posted encouraging first half results last November, with pre-tax profits up 8% to £59.9m despite rising oil prices, which set it back an extra £23m in fuel over the six months to September.

But Laidlaw has struggled in recent years, entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2001 and since undergoing an extensive restructuring programme.

In the year to the end of August, Laidlaw had revenues of £1.6bn and net income of just £641,000.

The £1.9bn price FirstGroup is set to pay for Laidlaw will include about £358.8m for the US group's existing debt.

See also:

British Take Greyhound

Forbes: 02.09.07
Chris Noon

London - Train and bus operator FirstGroup, a Scottish company listed on the London Stock Exchange, agreed Friday to buy the owner of the Greyhound bus line, Laidlaw International, for £1.9 billion ($3.7 billion).

The deal represents an 11% premium to Laidlaw's $37.12 closing price on Thursday and includes the assumption of around $700 million of debt. Along with the long-distance Greyhound line, Laidlaw operates thousands of school buses.

Investors thought it was worth the premium. Shares in FirstGroup closed up 34.5 pence (67.3 cents), or 6.2%, to 595.50 pence ($11.61) in London, with analysts at J.P. Morgan saying the deal represents "deep industrial logic."

Aberdeen-based FirstGroup, which operates bus and rail services across Britain, has been a player in the U.S. market for the last seven years. It will add 40,000 school buses to its existing fleet of 20,000. That should give FirstGroup contracted, very predictable revenue. Laidlaw operates across 37 states in the U.S. and six provinces in Canada.

Moir Lockhead, FirstGroup's chief executive, said the deal "will considerably enhance the group's existing activities in North America, which themselves have grown strongly since we first invested in the U.S. in 1999." The deal should result in annual cost savings of around $70 million.

"Strategically the move makes a lot of sense," said Douglas McNeill, a transport analyst from Corporate Synergy. "It is certainly bold and audacious, but it gives them [FirstGroup] a stronger position. Now they have got to show they can make it work. Their chances are quite good. This is a lot different to the disastrous Stagecoach takeover of Coach USA. Laidlaw is a much better company than Coach USA was."

There could be some risks from regulatory clearance, as competition in some areas is minimal. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which claims to have 1.4 million members as one of the largest labor unions in the world, has said a buyout of Laidlaw could create disruptions and a loss of business for the combined company, since many school districts across the U.S. are required to award work to multiple providers to ensure quality service and stimulate competition.

Laidlaw is also in the midst of negotiating a three-year pay deal.

"The U.S unions tend to be less powerful than the ones in the U.K. First Group’s management are not concerned, and I don’t see any particular reason why they should be," said McNeill.

Greyhound will be a challenge for the British Bulldog. Lockhead has insisted that the Greyhound business is "not new to us." He added that "we already operate long-distance coaching here in the U.K."

However, "long-distance" is one of those phrases with different meanings to Britons and Americans. FirstGroup mainly operates inter-urban services between towns in the same regions, typically with travel times of no more than an hour. FirstGroup does operate some buses under contract with National Express, the U.K.'s largest bus company, but the longest journey in Britain is about eight hours. On the other hand, it takes nearly three days to travel from Los Angeles to New York on a Greyhound bus.

FirstGroup has said it will carry out a strategic review of the Greyhound division, which many have taken has an indication it could be sold after the deal. Greyhound has around 11,000 employees and accounted for roughly 40% of Laidlaw's $3.1 billion revenue in fiscal 2006.

"There is a very clear hint they will sell off Greyhound," McNeill said. "They are certainly in two minds about the value of retaining it. They are taking on a substantial amount of debt; it would be a sensible move to pay down some of that by selling Greyhound at an early opportunity."

Posted on 08:47 AM | Permalink

Associated Press: February 10, 2007
By LESLIE MILLER

WASHINGTON - George W Bush's Homeland Security Secretary, Michael Chertoff said Friday he'd look into a claim that US railroad workers lost their jobs unfairly because of background checks recommended by the department he heads.

The Homeland Security Department urges railroads to check the backgrounds of employees who have access to critical infrastructure.

At least three dozen workers who said they had good work records were fired after background checks revealed past felony convictions, including drunken driving. Some say they were hired as part of work-release programs.

Tamara Holder, a Chicago attorney who represents the fired workers, said Homeland Security hasn't issued clear standards about what disqualifies a person from working in sensitive areas.

"Railroad workers who have paid their debt to society for crimes unrelated to terrorism were terminated without cause,'' Holder said.

House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., asked Chertoff at a meeting Friday morning to investigate the matter.

Department spokesman Russ Knocke said Chertoff agreed and said he would revisit the guidelines for background checks by private companies.

Thompson said he hopes private companies "take responsibility for their actions and cease undermining our national security efforts by blaming the government for what are really private personnel decisions.''

Next Friday, a House panel will hold a hearing on the impact of background and security clearances on the transportation work force.

Posted on 08:32 AM | Permalink

The New York Times: February 9, 2007
By SARAH LYALL, Keynsham Journal

The biggest complaint of passengers who ride British commuter trains, like those that pass through Keynsham, is that there is nowhere to sit down. Some trains are too full to board, and passengers sometimes must stand for trips as long as 60 miles.

Jon Mills/South West News Service

KEYNSHAM, England — Inside, they might be peeved; they might be indignant; they might feel like hitting someone very hard over the head with their umbrellas. But faced with the maddening challenges of their erratic railroad system, most British commuters do what they have been brought up to do: nothing.

Protesting overcrowding, passengers at the Bath station recently joined a fare strike organized by a group called More Trains, Less Strain.

For a tiny moment in January, that changed. Angry because the commuter trains between Bath and Bristol are often so crowded that you cannot get on, let alone get a seat, a group of commuters surged illegally past the ticket collector at this suburban station, clutching fake tickets.

Their ringleader, Peter Andrews, held his ticket aloft. “And then everyone else raised their tickets high,” Mr. Andrews related afterward. “It was like something from ‘Henry V.’ ”

Train travel in Britain these days can indeed feel like a lopsided battle on hostile foreign soil. Fares are among the highest in Europe. Although cheaper off-peak tickets are available under certain conditions, the standard round-trip price for the two-and-a-half-hour trip between London and Manchester, for instance, costs $431; the standard round-trip fare between London and Bath, a 90-minute trip, is $238.

Reliability has always been a problem, but things are looking up, according to the Office of Rail Regulation. Last year, just 14 percent of trains were delayed or canceled, the lowest rate since 1999.

Still, the smallest things seem to cause paralysis across the network. In late January, a light dusting of snow fell on southeast England, wreaking havoc. “Inch of Snow Causes Chaos,” reported The Evening Standard.

[On Thursday, things got really serious, with four inches of snow falling in some parts of the country. Hundreds of schools closed. Trains were canceled and delayed, airport runways were closed and London’s subway system experienced severe delays. The Highways Agency warned motorists who insisted on driving to dress warmly and travel with emergency packs containing food, boots, flashlights, spades and a de-icer.]

Alex Forrest, 39, is a storm veteran. When trains were ordered to slow down during a recent windstorm, he recalled, many reduced their speed to zero. Setting off on his customary half-hour commute from London to Sutton that evening, he might as well have been embarking on a doomed Antarctic expedition.

“Every train seemed to be badly delayed or canceled,” said Mr. Forrest, a member of the Sutton Rail Users’ Forum, a passenger advocacy group. “I finally got on a train that was packed full of people that said it was going to Sutton.” But at the next stop, the driver announced that, actually, it was going nowhere.

The passengers milled around the station for a while, but no other train arrived.

Of all the unhappy train passengers, the commuters are the unhappiest, and their biggest complaint is that there is nowhere to sit down.

Huddling with the other commuters under the shelter at Keynsham, between Bath and Bristol, Lucy Carpenter, a 32-year-old administrative assistant, sounded surprised that there was even a question. “No, I never get a seat,” she said.

The protest in January was organized by More Trains, Less Strain, an impromptu advocacy group that handed out fake tickets on which the printed destination was not Bristol, but “To Hell and Back.”

Meant to draw attention to local overcrowding, the demonstration stirred up nascent anger among other commuters, particularly in London, where passengers say that some trains are too full to board and that on others, they sometimes stand for trips as long as 60 miles.

It did not appease anyone when the senior civil servant in charge of the railroads declared, basically, that commuters traveling into London did not deserve a seat.

“The chances of people being able to travel in the commuter peak into London and be guaranteed a seat is not realistic,” the official, Mike Mitchell, told a parliamentary committee on Jan. 8.

Britain’s train system is almost comically complicated. With 2,500 stations and more than 10,000 miles of track, it serves nearly three million passengers a day. Twenty-three train companies are responsible for the actual service. A separate company, Network Rail, is responsible for the infrastructure. Every year, the intricate schedules are worked out, somehow, by a team of people who work for the train companies, Network Rail and the transportation department.

On the Bath and Bristol line, where all the trouble began, extra cars and the completion of engineering work have alleviated the problems, said Adrian Booth, a spokesman for First Great Western, which operates the service. But the company has also been criticized for overcrowding on its London commuter lines. Asked why it does not just add more trains, Mr. Booth said, “People very often don’t realize the complexity of making changes to the timetable.”

That may be so, but legislators in the House of Commons recently competed to describe the horrors endured by their constituents.

Edward Vaizey, a Conservative from Wantage, said that when his constituents did manage to fight their way on to a train, “they are packed like sardines,” making it impossible for the drinks cart to make its way up the aisle. “Some people are even being forced to stand three to a lavatory,” he said.

People having a bad trip can at least be thankful that they were not on the 1:05 a.m. Waterloo-to-Southampton train, via the middle of nowhere, on a frosty morning recently.

The train got as far as Woking, just outside London, where track work forced the passengers onto a bus. Soon afterward, the bus broke down.

The train’s employees then took a taxi, leaving the passengers behind to make their own arrangements.

“I can understand why the passengers would be upset,” a spokesman for South West trains told The Evening Standard at the time. “Once you get to the end of the night, you just want to get home.”

Posted on 01:46 AM | Permalink

RMT: February 8 2007

MEMBERS OF Britain’s biggest rail union joined rail workers from across Europe who descended on Paris on Thursday 8 February to demand an end to European Union directives that will force privatisation of railways throughout the economic bloc.

RMT's delegation has taken the message to Paris that the privatisation of Britain's railways a decade ago should stand as a stark warning that forcing the same bitter medicine on railways elsewhere in Europe promises to bring chaos, misery and potential disaster to rail workers and commuters.

"It is beyond belief that the unelected commissioners in Brussels should want to impose rail privatisation throughout the EU in the light of the ten years of misery that the break-up and sell-off of Britain's railways have brought," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"But if the Brussels bureaucrats get their way all Europe's railways will be fragmented and divvied up in the same way as Britain's railways were ten years ago.

"Our experience tells us that that will mean millions in taxpayers' and fare-payers' money being siphoned out of the industry by greedy privateers, that fares will rise, services will worsen, staffing levels will be pared to the bone and, worst of all, that safety will be fatally undermined.

"Today's demonstration is a reflection of the growing opposition to the drive to privatise Europe's railways.

"Britain's experience should stand as a stark reminder that public ownership is the only option for safe, affordable rail services," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 01:19 AM | Permalink

Transport Briefing: 06/02/07

Plans to run longer trains along the West Coast Main Line from next year have been indefinitely postponed after rolling stock leasing company Angel Trains chose not to sign a contract for new Pendolino carriages.

Angel says it will not commit to buying the 106 new coaches, costing around £1m each, until the outcome of an investigation ordered by the government into the rolling stock market becomes clear. The decision is a blow for Virgin Trains, which wants to lengthen all its 53 9-car Pendolinos to 11-car formations, providing an additional 10m seats a year for passengers.

Angel had been expected to place an order for the coaches by the end of January 2007 in response to a tender supplied by train manufacturer Alstom. This would have allowed the new carriages to be phased into service from the end of 2008 with delivery completed by December 2009. A spokesman for Virgin today (6 February) confirmed that the tender from Alstom expired at the end of January and a new price for the coaches will have to be negotiated. He added that the earliest date the new rolling stock could enter service would now be 2009.

Explaining the decision not to order the new carriages, a spokesman for Angel Trains said: "We are currently awaiting the results of an investigation into the train rolling stock market. It therefore makes future decisions into investments difficult until such a time that we can understand the returns we can expect on these investments. We welcome the swift outcome of the investigation to enable ongoing investment and the improvement in service that this will deliver for customers."

If the other two main rolling stock companies, Porterbrook and HSBC Rail, follow the example of Angel, orders for all new trains for the National Rail network would effectively be halted. The Virgin spokesman said there remains "a strong business case" for the new Pendolino order and added that the Department for Transport would be "taking quite an interest" in Angel's decision not to place the order. According to Virgin it is unlikely to be possible to run another Pendolino leasing arrangement with another ROSCO alongside the contract with Angel for the existing fleet.

A spokesman for the DfT said: "We are very disappointed that Angel has now withdrawn from plans to provide extra carriages on the West Coast Main Line. In every decision we take we aim to get the best deal for the taxpayer and for the passenger. This is true of our involvement in plans to lengthen the Pendolino fleet on the West Coast Main Line, and the request we have made for a market investigation into the costs of some rolling stock leases. We plan to work with Virgin Trains to find alternative arrangements to ensure trains with adequate capacity can operate on West Coast services."

In June 2006 the government announced a market investigation into the costs of rail rolling stock leases and referred the matter to the Office of Rail Regulation under section 131 of the Enterprise Act 2002. The DfT said it was not satisfied the prices charged for the rolling stock which leasing companies inherited from British Rail were fair and competitive. It believes there is a lack of effective competition within this market and lack of transparency as to how leasing charges are applied, giving grounds for a market investigation into leasing costs. The ORR is expected to issue recommendations to the government in April this year.

Posted on 01:13 AM | Permalink

BBC News: 8 February 2007

Nearly £19m is to be spent on improving the rail network between Merthyr Tydfil and Cardiff - a key commuter link.

All aboard: Enterprise Minister Andrew Davies at the launch in Merthyr

Trains will run every half hour from next year, stations at Abercynon South and Merthyr Vale will be improved and signalling upgraded.

The assembly government said improving rail services was a top priority.

The Conservatives said it was good news for Merthyr but suggested its timing was designed to help Labour's chances in the assembly elections in May.

Making the announcement while travelling on the line, Enterprise Minister Andrew Davies said it demonstrated a major commitment to rail.

He said: "Our substantial investment in the rail network over the past few years, together with other public transport, has led to a record number of people using public transport in Wales, with more people using the train today than prior to the Beaching cuts in the 1960s."

"The timing of this announcement stinks" - Conservative enterprise spokesman Alun Cairns

The assembly government is working with rail companies and local councils to make the improvements which are part-funded by the European Union.

A major park and ride scheme at Abercynon is promised after the other changes have been made.

The investment in trains is part of a long-term strategy to get more people out of their cars and into public transport to reduce pollution.

MERTHYR LINE INVESTMENT
* Half-hourly trains next year
* Abercynon South station improved
* Merthyr Vale station improved
* Major park and ride facility for Abercynon later
* An extra £18.8m to be spent on the Merthyr line

Welsh Liberal Democrat transport spokeswoman Kirsty Williams said it was great to see the Merthyr line getting funding for improvements she had been pressing for a long time.

She said: "Now we need that cash turned into action on the ground, and I hope we won't see the delays that have beset the Ebbw Valley line."

Plaid Cymru transport spokeswoman Janet Davies said the Valley Lines "desperately needed the investment" but warned much more emphasis on creating a "high quality joined up public transport system" was needed.

The Conservatives welcomed the announcement as "good news for Merthyr Tydfil" but accused Labour of electioneering, something the party denies.

Tory enterprise spokesman Alun Cairns said: "The timing of this announcement stinks.

"With the focus the Labour Party is putting on Merthyr they appear to be worried about losing the seat."

The assembly government insisted it was simply "getting on with business".

A spokeswoman said: "It was elected to deliver for the people of Wales and that is exactly what it is doing."

Posted on 04:32 PM | Permalink

BBC News: 6 February 2007

Two men jailed for manslaughter over the deaths of four rail workers at Tebay in Cumbria have been told their appeal evidence is not valid by judges.

Both men are challenging the safety of their manslaughter convictions

The workers, from Cumbria and Lancashire, died when they were hit by a runaway trailer in February 2004.

Mark Connolly, 44, of north Wales, and Roy Kennett, 29, of Maidstone, Kent, were told by London's Appeal Court that their new evidence was not applicable.

But Lord Justice Pill said they could begin an appeal on other grounds.

The men, both found guilty of four counts of manslaughter, are attempting to challenge the safety of their convictions.

Future date

In addition Connolly is challenging the length of his sentence. He was jailed for nine years, and Kennet for two, following a trial at Newcastle Crown Court in March 2006.

On Tuesday, Connolly's QC, Richard Lissack, said his client was entitled to expect the workers in the gorge were protected by wooden sleepers on the track to stop runaway wagons.

The runaway trailer rolled down the track before hitting the workers

This defence was rejected at the original trial, but Mr Lissack said new safety guidance showed it had been accepted practice.

Lord Justice Pill refused the application to adduce fresh evidence, saying the new guidance did not apply to the circumstances in which the Tebay tragedy occurred.

He adjourned the appeal, which will now be re-listed at a future date, to allow the men to present other grounds why their convictions should be overturned as "unsafe".

The four who died at Tebay were Colin Buckley, 49, of Carnforth, Lancashire, Darren Burgess, 30, also of Carnforth, Chris Waters, 53, of Morecambe, Lancashire, and Gary Tindall, 46, of Tebay.

They were killed when a wagon carrying 16 tonnes of steel rail tracks came out of the darkness and hit them as they worked on the West Coast Main Line.

See also:

‘New evidence’ plea is rejected by judges

Mark Connolly

A RAIL boss jailed for the manslaughter of four men killed by a runaway trailer at Tebay has been denied the chance to present new evidence that the tragedy should have been averted by other safety measures.

After a three-hour hearing at London’s Appeal Court yesterday, Lord Justice Pill refused Mark Connolly’s legal team permission to produce fresh evidence in the case.

But the judge, sitting with Mr Justice Burton and Judge Findlay Baker QC, said he was now forced to adjourn the appeals against conviction brought by Connolly, 44, and his co-accused Roy Kennett, 29, who were each found guilty of four counts of manslaughter over the February 2004 tragedy.

The case will now be re-listed for hearing at a future date, which has yet to be fixed.

At trial, Connolly’s lawyers claimed he had every reason to believe that any risk of disaster would be averted because of safety guidelines requiring that timber sleepers be laid across tracks where workmen are employed.

Such a measure – termed “gradient protection” – would have prevented the runaway trailer careering down the line and into the work-gang stationed at the bottom of the unusually steep incline, one of the most extreme gradients on the rail network.

His QC, Richard Lissack, claimed one particular safety guideline – “Standard 1503” – made clear that gradient protection should have been present, but, during the trial, the prosecution had “rubbished” the suggestion.

Mr Lissack said the “new point” he wished to explore focused on a new “safety bulletin” issued last year in the wake of an accident near Kings Cross station which he said demonstrated the importance of maintaining gradient protection.

But Lord Justice Pill, refusing the application to adduce fresh evidence, said the new guidance did not apply to the circumstances in which the Tebay tragedy occurred.

The judge’s ruling means the two men must now wait for another court date to present other grounds why they say their convictions should be overturned as “unsafe”. The bulk of those arguments centre on alleged misdirections to the jury by the trial judge.

Four men, one from Cumbria and three from Lancashire, died after they were hit by the run-away trailer as it slewed down the track.

Roy Kennett

Connolly, from Anglesey, north Wales, and crane operator, Kennett, of Old Mill Road, Maidstone, Kent, were each found guilty of four counts of manslaughter. Connolly was jailed for nine years and Kennett for two years at Newcastle Crown Court in March last year.

Those who died in the tragedy were Colin Buckley, 49, of Carnforth, Lancashire, Darren Burgess, 30, also of Carnforth, Chris Waters, 53, of Morecambe, and Gary Tindall, 46, of Tebay.

They were killed when the wagon, carrying 16 tonnes of steel rail tracks, came out of the darkness and hit them as they worked on the West Coast Main Line.

They had no warning of the approaching wagon.

Both men are appealing against their convictions, while Connolly also argues that his jail term was “manifestly excessive”.

Posted on 09:47 PM | Permalink

Bloomberg: Feb. 6
By Brian Lysaght

London Mayor Ken Livingstone wants a government regulator to force Metronet Rail Group, the London Underground's largest contractor, to absorb 750 million pounds ($1.48 billion) in extra costs.

Chris Bolt, the government's rail arbiter, should undertake an ``extraordinary'' review of Metronet's performance, and decide whether the company or the city should pay, Livingstone said at a news conference today in London. Metronet has a 30-year agreement to upgrade two-thirds of the 144-year-old railway.

"Virtually the whole problem is the result of poor management and a lack of proper penalties'' in Metronet's contract, the mayor said.

Livingstone has criticized the company for falling behind on station renovations and track repairs. Metronet pledged in its 2003 agreement with Prime Minister Tony Blair's government to spend 17 billion pounds on the railway in return for an annual payment of 600 million pounds. Its work is key to the biggest investment since World War II in the London Underground.

Metronet is jointly owned by WS Atkins Plc, Balfour Beatty, Bombardier, EDF Energy SA and Thames Water. Each should be forced to pay 150 million pounds, the mayor said.

The company maintains the District, Circle, Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City, East London, Bakerloo, Central, Victoria, and Waterloo & City lines.

Industry Standards

Metronet says its work has improved and it wants a negotiated settlement with the city over who will pay the additional costs. If the two sides can't agree, the company will ask Bolt to conduct a review, with a decision likely around April 2008, said Paul Emberley, a Metronet spokesman.

"We are determined to recover the costs due to us and believe we have good grounds for our claims to be successful,'' Emberley said, in a telephone interview.

The costs include a 90 million-pound upgrade on the Central Line to fix trains that London Underground had failed to maintain before Metronet took over, Emberley said.

"The Central Line is performing the best it ever has as a result of the work we've done,'' Emberley said.

Bolt identified the 750 million pounds in extra costs in a Nov. 15 review of Metronet. In that report, he found the company hadn't performed in-line with industry standards during the first three years of the contract.

'Bear the Costs'

Livingstone said the company has run up extra costs because it's inefficient, and it wants Londoners to pay. Tube Lines Ltd., the railway's other main contractor, doesn't have the same problems, he said.

"It's our strong position that it's Metronet shareholders who should bear the costs of the 750 million pounds rather than London rate payers or fare payers,'' Livingstone said.

Metronet has turned around its business by replacing the chief executive in 2005, hiring a new chairman last year and re- bidding contracts, Emberley said.

Moodys Investor Service said in a Nov. 24 report that ``Metronet's performance needs to improve from prior levels in order to avoid cash-flow strain.''

The government and the Tube contractors are spending 10 billion pounds over five years to ease overcrowding and improve service after decades of under-investment in the railway known locally as the Tube.

Posted on 09:25 PM | Permalink

London Evening Standard: 06.02.40

Train operators are considering fare increases, according to reports

Rail company bosses are planning to sneak through inflation-busting fare rises, it was claimed today.

Train operators are considering a move to increase fares twice a year, hoping passengers will not notice the full impact.

Today, commuters accused the firms of "trying to bury bad news".

Rail firms, which make profits of tens of millions of pounds a year, faced a barrage of criticism last month when they announced fare rises of 11 per cent - more than three times the rate of inflation.

Passengers accused them of increasing prices while failing to provide a good service with overcrowded and delayed journeys.

Now, a number of rail companies, including transport giant FirstGroup, which includes First Great Western services into Paddington and First Capital Connect, are looking at plans to introduce the two separate increases, possibly in May and September.

But commuters reacted angrily, saying it was an attempt by the rail firms to avoid bad publicity.

"They are trying to sneak two-and-a-half increases through. Do they think we're stupid?" said accountant Terry Garrett, 60, from Merstham, Surrey.

Emily James, 23, a human resources executive from Kenley, Surrey, who pays £11 a day to commute into London Bridge, said: "It's a smokescreen. Trying to bury the bad news is pointless and just causes more unrest.

"If they were open about it, we'd be more willing to accept it in the long term but this just makes us more disgruntled."

And Brian Cooke, chairman of TravelWatch, the London passenger watchdog, said: "We think it would be better if there was only one increase - at least passengers would know the situation for the year."

A senior rail industry source said: "It is difficult to gauge whether the idea to move the date of the January increase has come from government or train bosses - both regularly get it in the neck in January when news is often light and fare increases dominate the agenda."

This year's fare increase led to claims that train operators are trying to deal withovercrowding by pricing people off the busiest trains.

Anger increased on the day of the fares announcement when a survey from rail union TSSA revealed it costs three times more to travel by train in the UK than in the rest of Europe.

Gerry Doherty, TSSA leader, said: "It's outrageous that rail companies should seek to disguise rail fare increases simply because they cannot publicly defend the indefensible.

"Rather than mug passengers in broad daylight once a year, they now prefer to pick their pockets in this underhand manner over the rest of the year."

Posted on 09:19 PM | Permalink

The YorkPress: 6 Feb, 2007
By Ron Godfrey

A PRICE war on rail tickets between York and London is soon to break out.

Grand Central, the new three train service to open on May 20 between Sunderland and Kings Cross with stops which include Northallerton, Thirsk and York, has announced standard fares that shave £16.10p off the standard GNER saver return fare between York and London.

It comes in the wake of last month's outcry over fares for services out of York being hiked by up to 5.5 per cent Ian Yeowart, managing director of York-based Grand Central promised: "We will be cheaper on normal tickets. We won't always be the cheapest. At the moment we are not into heavily discounted advance purchases (for which GNER charges from £10.65 for a standard single or £21.30 for a return).

"But we have looked around the industry and understand it.

We know that a lot of complaints from passengers are about the complexity and cost of tickets.

He said that cut price tickets were good if the public could get them in advance, which was not always possible, but there was no correlation between not being able to get a £21.30 advance return and paying the £153 return walk-on fare.

"So what we have tried to do is to partly revisit what British Rail started, which is to create a reasonable price for a core product."

It means that a single ticket from York to London standard class will be £34; or £35 from Thirsk. Return ticket from York will be £59 and £61 from Thirsk.

"First class fares are exactly double standard class, which makes it easy to understand."

So first class return to London will be £118 from York which compares to GNER's £276 return.

He said there was no penalty for buying tickets on the train and that passengers aged over 60 did not need a rail card to be discounted 50 per cent on all fares. "All that is needed was proof of birthday.

"We will have a train out of London at 4.40pm. You can walk on to it and pay £34 to get to York. There is not another train anywhere in London going North where you can get that sort of ticket price, " said Mr Yeowart, who also plans to create a park and ride at Monks Cross.

The Grand Central fare also compares with Hull Trains whose Selby to London service has already attracted York commuters prepared to pay the £2 per day parking charge at Selby railway station.

Its Selby to London peak standard single costs £53 and double for return, while off-peak standard is £36 for single and £72 for return.

Hull Trains also has a staggered advance booking price of £23 single peak time and £15 off peak, doubled for return.

Posted on 09:18 PM | Permalink

Rail 557: January 31 2007
Christian Wolmar

The state of the Great Western Railway must have Brunel spinning in his grave.

It is the operational issues that brought the railway into the national headlines over the past couple of weeks but there are fundamental problems with the infrastructure that have to be sorted out over the next few years if the line is not to deteriorate under the stress of the demands from the extra passengers flooding on to it.

Performance is by far the worst of any of the mainline TOCs and is showing little signs of improvement.

... "There is something of an unseemly ‘it’s not my fault guv’ row between First Great Western, other train operators and the Department for Transport over who is responsible the shortage of rolling stock ..."

Let’s look at the operational problems first, highlighted by the recent chaotic scenes in the Bristol – Bath area, so well publicised by the very canny campaign run by the local commuters (who, as an aside, have shown that with a bit of imagination and effort, you can get onto the front pages and the top of the radio bulletins with a local story, an example for other campaigners to follow). There is something of an unseemly ‘it’s not my fault guv’ row between First Great Western, other train operators and the Department for Transport over who is responsible the shortage of rolling stock that has led to overcrowding and branch lines being closed. First have blamed the state of trains they received from Arriva as part of the takeover of the Wessex train service and delays over the completion of a new maintenance facility. Ministers and the Department have kept largely mum about it, but they have already called in Alison Forster, the boss of First Great Western, for a pep talk and there are dark mutterings about being forced to hand in the franchise. I hold no brief for First, which has never been the most imaginative or forward looking of the rail companies, but most of the responsibility for this fiasco lies clearly with the Department and ministers, rather than the train operator.

It was the Department which specified that the rolling stock for these regional and local services would have to be reduced from over 130 to 112. Now perhaps First, if it was worried about its reputation, should not have taken the franchise on with the onerous requirement, but presumably any other bidder would have been required to make the same cut. A veteran railwayman, who has worked for both TOCs and Railtrack, told me recently that under the franchise process it is absolutely essential for the specifier – now the Department – to nail down every commitment from the operator ‘or else, as with South West Trains until the recent new franchise, they just make merry’. But the converse is true, too, especially in the new climate of big franchise premia. The operator will not offer any extra services unless they are commercially viable.

... "Taking away the franchise from First would have serious implications for the whole franchising process, given what has already happened to GNER"

And transporting people between Bath and Bristol in the rush hour is never going to be a profitable operation, as for most of the rest of the day the rolling stock will be empty. But it does perform a vital role for the local economy which is why subsidy is justified. Clearly someone in the Department forgot that.

Taking away the franchise from First would have serious implications for the whole franchising process, given what has already happened to GNER. A senior Labour politician recently told me that having the occasional franchise failure, like GNER, was good because it showed that the Department was getting its franchise lettings just about right. I could not disagree more. The aim of the franchise process, surely, is to get the best out of the network, and that is not done by having franchise collapses with all the loss of morale and uncertainty that follows in their wake. Building in failure is not a way of boosting the public’s confidence in rail, or of improving the morale of hard-pressed managers trying to run trains on an overcrowded network.

However, we could see more collapses or more scenes like those in the West Country. By the end of this year, all the major franchises, apart from Southern, will be on long term contracts that take them up to or beyond 2014. That date is important because it marks the end of the next Network Rail control period, the settlement for which will be announced in the summer with the publication of the High Level Output Specification. As a senior industry figure pointed out to me recently, all the franchise agreements will have been signed by the end of this year (apart from Southern), and therefore the Department will not be able to specify any growth without renegotiation. That could be prohibitively expensive since the franchisee will be in a very strong position to dictate the price of any extra services. Bristol – Bath may therefore be the precursor to similar cock-ups. Gradually, people will simply be squeezed off the railway and those that can will find alternatives, such as several callers to the Radio 5 phone-in on which I appeared the Monday of the strike.

... "there is a desperate need for an independent rail agency and it should be called British Railways ..."

My suggestion in my last column that there was a desperate need for an independent rail agency and it should be called British Railways may have been partly in jest but actually it is clear that the day to day running of the railway, and that includes timetable specification and stock usage, has to be returned to an independent body run by transport professionals. The current situation is shown to be more and more untenable as each incident like this is highlighted. Far from making the lines of responsibility clearer, the Railways Act 2005 gave far too much power to the unaccountable grey men and women of the Department. As I have said many times before, this is not a long term solution for the running of the railways and the timing of the inevitable reorganisation, with the creation of a Railways Agency, is brought forward every time there is a highly publicised issue like the passengers’ fare ‘strike’ at Bath.

The need for such an agency is highlighted, too, by the state of the infrastructure on the line. The Great Western would, under British Rail, have been the next major line to have been refurbished after the West Coast but privatisation and the huge cost overrun of the West Coast put paid to that. Indeed, the West Coast fiasco will ensure that future enhancements will not be carried out under the banner of a huge overriding scheme like that again.

Instead, there will be a string of minor schemes (on the railway that still means dozens of millions of pounds) to bring about incremental improvements. To be fair to Network Rail, this is happening on the Great Western. As mentioned before (Rail 551) the double track between Swindon and Gloucester is being reinstated in order to provide a relief line to the Severn Tunnel and when I met Robbie Burns, the local route director recently, he outlined a whole series of other schemes to improve performance, such as replacing ten times as many switches and crossings annually compared with Railtrack, and increasing the speed of most of the slow line between Paddington and Reading from 75 mph to 90 mph in a project one third funded by First. That is a rare exception and the infrastructure work needs to be coordinated carefully with operations.

What is not happening – or not happening fast enough – is the decision over the big issues such as the replacement of the High Speed Train fleet and electrification. Nor has a decision been made over relieving the bottleneck at Reading without which performance the line will never be able to improve to the level of other lines because it is responsible for a staggering 15 per cent of all delays on Great Western. Again, that should be the remit of an independent agency.

... "the fragmentation of the railways and, in particular, the separation of the infrastructure from the operations is the major cause of the huge rise in costs on the railway..."

I am prepared to put Mystic Wolmar’s neck on the line and say that the creation of such a specialist rail organisation will be announced before the end of the decade. The precise nature of the body will, of course, be the subject of great controversy. Chris Grayling, the shadow transport secretary, is preparing his own rail review and it is clear from talking to him that he is more and more clear that the fragmentation of the railways and, in particular, the separation of the infrastructure from the operations is the major cause of the huge rise in costs on the railway. The timing of the publication of the Tories’ policy on rail is not yet known but one thought is that he will issue it on the same day as Labour’s 30 year strategy document, providing commentators with a clear contrast between the two parties (interestingly, the blue one may well be more radical and leftwing than the red one!). The conundrum for the Tories though is a difficult one: if they reintegrated the operators into Network Rail, then they are effectively renationalising the railway, not something that I can quite imagine the Tories would do; on the other hand, if they break up Network Rail and hand the infrastructure to the operators, effectively they are reprivatising it, which the collapse of Railtrack showed was not a viable idea. Grayling hints at a magical third way, but Tony Blair’s similar big political idea has long disappeared. Whatever he comes up with, 2007 promises to be an interesting year but the poor people suffering on Great Western need relief long before any Tory government will come to power.

Posted on 07:57 PM | Permalink

Transport Times: February 2 2007
Christian Wolmar

The chaotic scenes and the passengers’ strike on the trains in the West Country have highlighted fault lines in the structure of the railways which will haunt rail ministers throughout this crucial year for the industry.

The new franchise which started in April last year was based on a bid that can only continue to deliver profits for First Great Western with both high fares rises and costs cutting. So fares have already gone up on some routes by double digit figures in the past year (e.g. 11 per cent increase for Bristol to London) and now we have had the timetable changes that have led to passengers not being able to get on their usual trains or travelling in cattle truck conditions.

Getting to the root cause of this is not easy. Certainly, FGW is not the innocent party they tried to make out and, indeed, the company’s press release on January 24 was an pretty embarrassing admission of failure. Following the clever PR stunt by the affected commuters who staged a ‘fares strike’ which attracted national publicity, the railway’s boss, Alison Forster had to grovel: ‘It is clear that we underestimated demand for our train services and too much capacity was removed from the timetable we implemented in December. We have listened to our customers and increased capacity on the worst affected journeys.’

I must say, this statement is barely credible. First have been running this franchise for ten years and the bidding process requires a huge level of detail about individual passenger flows. The truth is far more likely to be that First hoped to get away with a series of cost saving measures imposed on people travelling at peak times on various unprofitable short journeys such as Bristol – Bath. While these trains may be full a couple of times a day, the service will be loss-making and First clearly their cuts would pass off with little protest. It was not demand the company underestimated, but the passengers’ reaction!

The failure to sort out maintenance with the transfer to a new depot has been part of the problem but a competent company would have factored that in. However, the Department cannot plead innocence either. It accepted a franchise bid that was reliant on FGW allowing 28 carriages to go off lease in December – with only a vague commitment to replace them. Ministers argue that it is not up to them to work out how a bidder can meet their commitments, but, in reality, ensuring that a bid is realistic is a basic function of those charged with assessing it.

This little fiasco also demonstrates the failure of the rolling stock market. If there was a genuine market, then the spare trains being released by the new ones arriving on the Transpennine Express route should be available for a song – or at least the (minimal) marginal cost plus a small mark-up. Instead, FGW is paying a high price since, in a market with only one or two suppliers, it is very hard to get a good deal.

Above all, this episode shows that lines of accountability in the railway are diffuse and unclear. The railway is being run, in part, by Department officials miles away from the action. Our so called privatised railway is micromanaged in a way that it never was under the nationalised BR. How ministers must regret the decision not to create a Railways Agency when the Strategic Rail Authority was abolished.

There is, too, a clear policy vacuum. The High Level Output Specification (can’t anyone think of a better name, such as the Railway for the Future) and the 30 year strategy for rail which the government will publish in the summer must be produced within a policy context that addresses the fundamental question: do ministers want more or fewer people to use the railway?

There are two broad conclusions from this episode: first, the sooner the Department hands over responsibility for the railways to an outside agency the better; and second, specifying franchises like the one for Great Western which involve paring down services and imposing large fare rises suggests that there is no interest in attracting more people onto the railways, despite ministerial statements to the contrary, but only in squeezing operators till the pips squeak. And it clearly does not work.

Posted on 07:14 PM | Permalink

RMT: February 4 2007

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, Britain’s biggest rail union warns today.

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, RMT said.

"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 utterly unsuited to longer journeys," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"At the same time, passengers are suffering inflation-busting fare increases every year, while passengers on state-owned railways elsewhere in Europe pay a fraction of the cost - and are more likely to find a seat.

"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.

"That means passengers being squeezed ever harder, in both senses of the word, and our members 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.

"We can only begin to do that if the railway network is run for its passengers, and not as a cash cow, and that means bringing South West Trains back into public ownership," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 09:53 AM | Permalink

Portsmouth News: 03 February 2007

A RAIL boss is coming under pressure to return 'comfy' trains to Portsmouth as he meets a top-level delegation.

Passengers want the 450 trains taken out of service on long journeys

City leaders will have a crunch face-to-face meeting with South West Trains boss Stewart Palmer on Monday to demand their old trains back.

They want to see the back of the cramped blue 450 trains – originally intended for suburban services in and around London – which have been rolled out between Portsmouth Harbour and London Waterloo.

Passengers have complained the seats are too narrow for such a long journey.

Commuters now want to see the return of the old white 444 trains, which are currently being run between Southampton and London.

Council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson and city transport chiefs will meet Mr Palmer on Monday to demand a U-turn.

He said: 'It seems that Portsmouth was one of the last areas to get rid of the old slam-door trains, and one of the last areas to get decent mainline trains.

'Now these comfortable trains, which only arrived in 2004, are being removed and replaced with cramped ones more suitable for short, local commuter journeys.

'Passengers are finding them very uncomfortable.

'I have to use them as well and I agree.'

Commuters have started a 'No450 Campaign' to persuade bosses to get rid of them.

Posted on 09:29 AM | Permalink

Independent Online: 05 February 2007
By Barrie Clement, Transport Editor

Sir Richard Branson's plans to add 10 million seats to his train services on the flagship London-Glasgow route are in disarray after the company providing the extra coaches refused to press ahead with the deal.

Angel Trains, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland, has pulled out of negotiations with Virgin Rail because rolling stock leasing companies (Roscos) are expected to be referred to the Competition Commission.

The leasing company has told ministers it will not spend about £180m buying the extra carriages if there is uncertainty about the rental it will be able to charge in future.

Last year the Department for Transport called on the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) to review the earnings of Roscos after widespread allegations of profiteering. The ORR found the leasing sector had "higher prices and lower quality of service than would be the case in a more competitive market" and has indicated that it will refer the issue to the Competition Commission by the end of March.

While it is possible that the deal will go ahead after the Commission's investigation, Angel Trains might pull out altogether if it believes new terms make the deal unprofitable.

Sir Richard's aim is to provide the two extra carriages on his 53 Pendolino trains in time for a new timetable due to start in December next year. Plans to run 30 per cent more services on the route - providing an extra 10 million seats - are expected to go ahead. But Sir Richard's ambition of adding a total of 20 million seats, with the help of the two extra carriages, is in question.

Virgin Rail spends £170m a year on leasing payments for rolling stock that operate on the West Coast main line. Projects to lengthen platforms at three stations to take the longer train on the West Coast main line have also been put on hold. Critics of the privatised industry have accused the four Roscos of having a stranglehold on the network which they have used to impose huge rental rates.

More supportive industry sources believe that while high charges were levied for old rolling stock at the beginning of privatisation 10 years ago, more equitable rentals are being levied on modern trains. A spokeswoman for Angel Trains, said: "We are awaiting the results of an investigation into the train rolling stock market. It therefore makes investment decisions difficult until such a time that we can understand the returns we can expect on the investment.

Domination of the industry by the leasing companies is being undermined by Transport for London. The capital's transport authority is buying its own trains for routes it has taken over in north London.

Posted on 09:23 AM | Permalink

The Mercury (Voice of Tasmania): February 05, 2007
ALISON RIBBON

PACIFIC National railway workers went on strike late yesterday, reportedly over safety issues.

The strike was apparently unplanned and dubbed a "wildcat strike" by the railway union.

Safety issues surrounding Pacific National have been in the headlines recently, with three derailments involving the company's trains in less than a year.

A train carrying paper from Hobart to the Burnie port derailed near Ulverstone a week ago.

And a 55-year-old man was killed after being pinned by a train carriage during a shunting operation at the Pacific National railyard at Newstead in September last year.

Tasmania Police said a Pacific National train driver was left shaken yesterday after almost running down two children fishing from a railway bridge in Burnie.

One child leapt into the river, while the other managed to run off the bridge to safety.

It couldn't be confirmed last night if any of these incidents had prompted the strike.

There were also reports the strike was related to workplace agreements. The Rail, Tram and Bus Union in Tasmania did not organise the strike, in fact, they hadn't been told of it.

A surprised branch secretary Samantha Simonetis was reluctant to comment last night on reasons for the strike.

"It's a wildcat strike. It's not endorsed or condoned by the RTBU and I'm unsure of the issues," she said.

Transport Minister Jim Cox had been informed of the strike last night.

The Launceston office of Pacific National wouldn't comment on the strike, instead referring media to the company's public-affairs manager Marie Festa, but she could not be contacted.

Six wagons and a locomotive derailed in the most recent incident at Ulverstone.

Another five wagons partially derailed.

Last February 10 wagons from a 35-wagon southbound Burnie-Hobart train left the rails between Campania and Colebrook.

In June last year, three locomotives and three wagons left the track between Perth and Western Junction.

Pacific National, Australia's largest private rail operator, bought Tasrail in February 2004.

It's not yet known how long the workers will stay off the job.

See also:

Railway workers walk off over safety

Libcom: 06/02/2007

Pacific National railway workers went on unofficial strike on Sunday, reportedly over safety issues.

Alison Ribbon reported that the strike was apparently unplanned and dubbed a "wildcat strike" by the railway union.

Safety issues surrounding Pacific National have been in the headlines recently, with three derailments involving the company's trains in less than a year.

A train carrying paper from Hobart to the Burnie port derailed near Ulverstone a week ago.

And a 55-year-old man was killed after being pinned by a train carriage during a shunting operation at the Pacific National railyard at Newstead in September last year.

Tasmania Police said a Pacific National train driver was left shaken yesterday after almost running down two children fishing from a railway bridge in Burnie.

One child leapt into the river, while the other managed to run off the bridge to safety.

It couldn't be confirmed last night if any of these incidents had prompted the strike.

There were also reports the strike was related to workplace agreements. The Rail, Tram and Bus Union in Tasmania did not organise the strike, in fact, they hadn't been told of it.

A surprised branch secretary Samantha Simonetis was reluctant to comment last night on reasons for the strike.

"It's a wildcat strike. It's not endorsed or condoned by the RTBU and I'm unsure of the issues," she said.

Transport Minister Jim Cox had been informed of the strike last night.

The Launceston office of Pacific National wouldn't comment on the strike, instead referring media to the company's public-affairs manager Marie Festa, but she could not be contacted.

Six wagons and a locomotive derailed in the most recent incident at Ulverstone.

Another five wagons partially derailed.

Last February 10 wagons from a 35-wagon southbound Burnie-Hobart train left the rails between Campania and Colebrook.

In June last year, three locomotives and three wagons left the track between Perth and Western Junction.

Pacific National, Australia's largest private rail operator, bought Tasrail in February 2004.

It's not yet known how long the workers will stay off the job.

Posted on 09:00 AM | Permalink

The Budapest Times: February 5, 2007
Michael Logan

Hungarian government’s resolve to make European Union cuts comes under pressure from rail workers' union.

Railway workers’ unions last Thursday postponed a one-hour strike at the last minute after talks with the Health Ministry appeared to have bought more time to haggle over plans to close hospitals for railway employees. The Railway Workers Union (VSZ) had planned a one-hour strike during rush hour last Friday in an attempt to force the government to do a U-turn on the planned closure of hospitals operated specifically for employees of Hungarian State Railways (MÁV).

Although Simon Dezső, the head of VSZ, called the talks “fruitful”, he said the strike would now go ahead on 25 February unless a compromise can be reached with the Health Ministry.

Closing special hospitals ‘unfair’
The government is reforming the creaking and inefficient healthcare system as it attempts to cut its soaring budget deficit, and part of the plan targets the closure of MÁV hospitals or merging them with other hospitals. VSZ wants the government to withdraw the plans affecting the MÁV hospitals, saying they punish railway workers and their families.

Perhaps more worrying for the government are plans by the Federation of Civil Servants’ Unions to call on the 800,000 public sector employees under its umbrella to strike. The head of the group, Endre Szabó, said it would call for a two-hour strike on 21 February if the government did not meet its wage demands. Unions want to see a wage hike of at least 6.75% but the government has only offered 5.5%, including money due from last year.

The demands come against the backdrop of high inflation, energy price increases and tax rises - all direct or indirect consequences of government attempts to cut the huge budget deficit and adopt the euro. PM Ferenc Gyurcsány has made it clear he expects around a 4% drop in real wages this year as a consequence of the reforms, which also call for the redundancy of thousands of public sector employees. Szabó said that while he accepted the need for reform, the unions would withhold all cooperation until an agreement was reached on wages.

Hungary’s budget deficit - the largest in the EU in percentage terms - is expected to come in at around 10% for 2006. The government is attempting to slash this figure to 3% - the magic number for euro adoption - by 2009.

Opposition to the reforms is growing as the cuts start to bite. The latest two strikes add to an earlier-announced industrial action by electricity workers, who are unhappy at losing their large electricity subsidy.

Posted on 08:50 AM | Permalink

Czech Business Weekly: 05. 02. 2007
Tomáš Johánek

National rail operator České dráhy (ČD) describes last year as a success with traffic volume and revenues in both passenger and freight transport on the rise.

Josef Bazala, the general director of ČD, said the company even anticipates turning a profit this year – quite a rarity in the Czech railway business

Q: Last year ČD recorded substantial growth in both its passenger and freight services. What was the main factor that influenced these results?

A: I’d attribute it to two aspects. The first is the completion of our organizational reforms, especially the gradual detachment of supplementary activities to daughter companies. These companies are showing relatively good results and are, more importantly, obtaining orders from outside ČD. The second key aspect is that the company's attitude toward the client has significantly changed. We're offering a whole range of new services oriented toward the needs of the specific customer.

Josef Bazala
Born: Feb. 29, 1956, Třebíč, South Moravia
Education: Faculty of Operations and Economics, University of Žilina, Slovakia (previously known as University of Transport and Communication)
Work history: Since May 2005, CEO and chairman of the board of directors, national rail operator České dráhy (Czech Railways, ČD); 2003–05, deputy CEO, ČD; 1996–2003, executive director and partner, transport company Spedi-Trans Praha; 1993–95, senior manager, trade and operations division, ČD; 1995, for three months CEO of ČD; in 1981 joined then Československé státní dráhy (Czechoslovak state railways) where he worked in various positions related to railway operations and managed passenger transport services

Q: Do you have numbers for transported passengers and volume of goods in 2006?

A: So far we only have precise figures for the first 10 months. From the trend represented by these results, one could draw the overall conclusion that passenger transport grew in terms of both passenger numbers and revenues. We expect the increases to be 3 percent for passengers and around 5 percent for revenue. Financially speaking, this would imply year-on-year growth in revenues of Kč 250 million–260 million (€ 8.8 million–9.2 million). With respect to freight, we’ve bettered our performance by Kč 500 million. Last year we initially planned an overall loss of Kč 580 million, however, in reality this figure will be smaller by Kč 130 million–140 million.

Q: If transport volumes are increasing, why is ČD still recording a loss?

A: The loss was caused by our passenger services because these weren’t sufficiently financially backed by the state. We were short of roughly Kč 1 billion. After reaching an agreement with the Ministry of Transport, we’ve managed to solve this problem for 2007. The state budget is indeed now offering around Kč 1 billion more for the financing of long-distance passenger transport. Our business plan for 2007 envisages a modest profit of somewhere near Kč 50 million. The expected loss of our long-distance passenger services will be covered, while we expect a loss of around Kč 200 million–300 million from our regional passenger services. We expect to meet the overall loss of roughly Kč 500 million that will arise from operating the EuroCity and InterCity services with the profits derived from our freight services.

Q: Will the introduction of a motorway toll collection lead to an alignment of road and rail haulage prices?

A: When we compared the two it emerged that the current toll amount charged is roughly 80 percent of what we pay [for using the railways]. We have to, on top of that, pay for our entire railway network while [the road haulage companies] only have to pay for using the motorways.

Q: Does ČD have enough free capacity for a further increase in demand, especially regarding freight transport?

A: Free capacity is there, both in our passenger and our goods services but of course it isn’t unlimited. We’re currently transporting around 80 million tons of goods while other rail transport companies are roughly carrying 10 million tons. We're capable of transporting about 130 million to 140 million tons. In contrast, for road haulage the figure is more than 400 million tons per year. Currently, we’re able to take over something in the order of 10 percent of that figure. In order to become really competitive to road transport in the Czech Republic, it will be necessary to build up — with state support — seven or eight intermediary logistical terminals from which trains and other means of transport can be dispatched. Only when these terminals are running will it be possible for rail and road transport to cooperate, with a proportion of road haulage being transferred to rail.

Q: What kind of haulage is currently in strongest demand?

A: Container transport has recently become financially attractive. For the railways to play a bigger part in this respect, it’s essential that sidings are built in industrial zones. The Toyota Peugeot Citroen Automobile Czech (TPCA) factory in Kolín [Central Bohemia], is an example of how it shouldn’t be done. Although there’s a siding, its capacity is insufficient, so only 50 to 60 percent of the cars produced at the plant are transported on its track, while practically all the supply deliveries are realized with the use of trucks. The siding we intend to build in Nošovice [North Moravia] will have adequate capacity and should afford the new [Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech] car plant the opportunity to be stocked using it.

Q: Does ČD have enough freight wagons for every type of commodity?

A: Last year we had to deal with a lack of certain types of wagon, for example those used to transport coal and iron ore. By the end of the year, we were focusing on overhauling sidelined freight cars to get them back into service as soon as possible. This year we'd like to start off some sort of modernization program specifically aimed at freight wagons. We also have a shortage of container cars, so we’d either like to order the manufacture of such cars or we’ll solve the problem through long-term lease arrangements. In general, one could say there’s a lack of these cars throughout Europe. A further rise in rail haulage demand would certainly mean a requirement for larger investments into new freight wagons.

Q: What hopes do you place in ČD Cargo?

A: ČD and its cargo daughter company ČD Cargo occupy fifth place [as goods transports] in the EU with a market share of about 20 percent. It’s not only in ČD Cargo that the transport of goods is profitable. This is also the case with ČD, as the transport of goods generates around Kč 1 billion in profits every year. However, since we subsidize our loss-making passenger services with profits we make from goods transport, we are, in effect, strangling our resources to investment in further growth. As soon as it’s possible, we’d like to achieve a position from which resources generated by freight transport are reinvested back into this sphere. The majority of European railway companies have reserved this field of activity for separate companies especially set up for this purpose. The newest trend sees cooperation between rail cargo companies of different countries. This is because of the increasingly important role international freight transport plays. It’s generally stipulated in European legislation that the rail transport of goods is a line of business that should freely compete on the market and which shouldn’t be subsidized in any way.

Q: Given the short time that ČD’s flagship Pendolino trains have been in service on the southern route to Bratislava, Slovakia, and Vienna, Austria, can you assess how they’re functioning?

A: We’re glad that we succeeded in sorting out the teething troubles and managed to get the international certification of these trains through on time. We can now drive them to Austria, Germany and Slovakia. The northern route to Ostrava [North Moravia] is showing increasingly good results and Slovakia is doing quite well and fulfills our original expectations. The number of new customers is rising. Vienna makes less of a good impression; on this route it's going to be necessary to give more time to getting people accustomed.

Q: When will the Pendolino travel to, for example, Germany?

A: For Germany we haven’t got enough train units at the moment. The seven trains we have are all working to capacity. We’re already allowed to go to Germany but to make it worthwhile we’d need another three to four trains. Going merely to Dresden [Germany] wouldn’t make much sense and we don't have the trains to go the whole way to Berlin. Moreover, Germany still hasn’t completed the modernization of the railway line between the border and Dresden. Warsaw [Poland] would also present an interesting option and, later on, Žilina and Košice [in Slovakia].

Q: So, is ČD considering purchasing more of these train units?

A: A new generation of Pendolino trains is certainly worth considering, but, not now – perhaps in two or three years. We’ve ordered new three-system locomotives [electric trains designed to operate on any of Europe’s three main electric traction systems] and we'll have new carriages. After the railway corridor is completed, the route via Plzeň [West Bohemia] to Germany will become very attractive to us as will domestic routes like Plzeň to Ostrava and Prague to České Budějovice [South Bohemia]. A whole range of new possibilities will become available for acquiring new travelers. Then will be the time to arrange for new train units. And we’ve never said that after the corridors are finished we won’t deploy our Pendolinos on different routes than those used now.

Q: Long-distance passenger transport is one thing, regional services are another. Are you successfully negotiating with regions regarding subsidies for providing transport services this year?

A: Things are getting better every year. For this year, about half the contracts have already been closed and the rest, we think, will be done by the end of January. We’re also doing very well with regard to accounting for costs, although it isn’t possible to do this in the same fashion as with buses, as we’re a network operator. What was also helpful was that last year we launched an extensive project for the modernization of diesel railcars serving rural lines. The regions are happy to see these new trains providing better services for their money. Especially the Regionova trains – which also serve as a means to promote a given region – are extremely useful in this respect.

Q: Last year you faced accusations that you offer unrealistically low prices in tenders. Is it true?

A: First of all I have to say that the tenders organized by the Ministry of Transport regarding two express train routes weren’t specific enough and were poorly executed; a clear example of how not to conduct a tender. The Ministry of Transport just tore two railway lines out of the system, prepared a tender for these lines and, in the tender, gave priority to quality rather than price. New transport companies were thus allowed to make use of the Pardubice [East Bohemia]–Liberec [North Bohemia] route for Kč 70 million using new and expensive trains, whereas we offered to do it for the same price that’s presently reimbursed to us through the funding we receive.

Q: So consequently, isn’t ČD resisting competition?

A: Logically, we aren’t at all evading or resenting competition. What’s become clear, however, is that if we measure ourselves against some other entity in terms of how a railway line is operated — looking at how and for how much money we’re doing it — then the results are in essence comparable.

Posted on 08:45 AM | Permalink

The Observer: February 4, 2007
Hilary Spurling

The long-awaited opening of the new rail terminal is celebrated by Simon Bradley's St Pancras Station and a re-issue of Jack Simmon's classic of the same name.

St Pancras Station
by Simon Bradley
Profile £14.99, pp224

St Pancras Station
by Jack Simmons
Historical Publications £15.95, pp144

St Pancras Station was designed and decorated inside and out by medievalists who finished off the booking office with carved screens, Gothic doorways and stone sculptures of railway personnel - frock-coated guard, engine-driver, signalman - nestling in tufts of acanthus on the corbels. The station hotel had a painting on the stairs of Patience, personified as a stout, bearded, balding man slumped in a ginger bath-robe beneath a pointed arch, expressing gloom and discouragement in every line of his sagging shoulders, drooping mouth and fiercely furrowed brow.

Patience all too clearly symbolises the setbacks, snags and sleepless nights endured by all those concerned: engineers, contractors, construction workers and the directors of the Midland Railway, who blew a million pounds in the 1860s on a station intended to dwarf both Euston and King's Cross. The project was criticised from the start by purists such as John Ruskin, who detested railways on principle ('Now every fool in Buxton can be at Bakewell in half an hour,' he wrote bitterly when the Midland line ripped through the Peak District, 'and every fool in Bakewell at Buxton'). Traditionalists found the stripy spires and towers of the Midland Grand Hotel bogus and overblown. Modernists 'questioned whether the language of cathedrals and monasteries was suitable to a railway terminal at all'.

But for Sir Gilbert Scott, who conceived and built it, the hotel at St Pancras was the high point of a Modernist crusade. A quasi-religious conversion in his 30th year had shown him Pugin's Gothic revival as a cataclysmic force, an engine for 'deep-seated, earnest and energetic revolution in the human mind'. Gothic was the language of imperial mastery. Scott's aim was to ransack the past, invoke the future and dominate the present with a building 'on so vast a scale as to rule its neighbourhood, instead of being governed by it'. His hotel echoed not only Salisbury Cathedral but the great 14th-century cloth halls of Flanders and the secular palaces of renaissance Venice.

Its cutting-edge innovations ranged from a bold, iron-framed central staircase to electric lifts and revolving doors. State-of-the-art technology stopped short only at central heating and sanitary plumbing (even Midland Rail was forced to settle for the cheaper option of hiring maids to lay, light and tend guests' bedroom fires, and to haul their bathwater up and down by hand). St Pancras established Scott as the most go-ahead architect in the country, a specialist in restoration and regeneration, the Norman Foster of his day, in demand all over Britain ('only Cardiganshire is Scott-free') and beyond.

The trainshed designed for St Pancras by William Henry Barlow was the tallest and broadest ever seen. Its great, soaring single span of glass had no equal in that age or any other. Even Brunel's trainshed at Bristol Temple Meads incorporated fake hammer beams and Tudor arches. The purity of Barlow's design made St Pancras an envelope of light and air, matching in scale and grandeur the pre-Raphaelite castle guarding its approaches. Both were imitated the world over, from New York's Grand Central Station to Victoria Terminus in Bombay.

Just over 50 years after its completion, Scott's hotel closed on grounds of hopeless obsolescence, and the station began its long descent into disuse and neglect. By the Thirties, the building that was to have revolutionised the human mind was partitioned into makeshift offices with a hostel for cleaning ladies on the top floor. Threats of demolition were renewed in the Sixties by those who saw St Pancras as not just useless but morally offensive, the embodiment as Simon Bradley says 'of looseness, swank and clutter'. The whole complex, with its rusting iron framework, its shabby splendour boarded over or cemented up, its glass vault patched with corrugated tin, became the territory of hookers, derelicts and druggies.

Bradley's perceptive, entertaining and instructive book, together with the new revised edition of Jack Simmons's classic railway biography, celebrates yet another imaginative leap forward. The spectacular restoration of St Pancras will be completed this year with 2.5 acres of new glass in glazing bars repainted the exact shade of pale grey-blue that melts into a London sky in spring. The current scheme (following a masterplan designed by Foster) opens up the Victorian undercroft to house the station concourse, raising the height of the great vault and almost doubling its length with a second flat glass roof suspended - like 'a flying carpet' in the words of its architect, Alastair Lansley - behind the first, above platforms long enough to hold Eurostar's continental trains, 400 metres long. After 70 years of indignity and shame, the hotel regains its old luxuriant flamboyance while Barlow's trainshed will take its place again, at the start of the 21st century, as one of the wonders of the world.

Posted on 09:33 AM | Permalink

The Melbourne Age: February 2, 2007
Cameron Houston and Stephen Moynihan

THE Bracks Government is under mounting pressure to sever its partnership with Connex, which has already lost franchise contracts elsewhere over its inability to run trains on time and on budget.

One of the troubled Siemens trains at a crossing yesterday. Photo: Craig Abraham

England's Strategic Rail Authority was forced to sack Connex in 2003 — two years before the contract was due to expire — after claims of financial mismanagement. In 2001, Connex was the first operator to lose a franchise contract since the English rail network was privatised.

The authority cited a litany of problems ranging from financial incompetence to the sub-standard condition of its trains.

The Victorian Government's franchise agreement with Connex expires next year, but the director of public transport Jim Betts will decide the fate of Melbourne's ailing rail network in November. Mr Betts has several options, including renewing Connex's existing contract, retendering or putting the system back into public hands.

Connex was forced to cancel more than 50 scheduled services yesterday due to faulty brakes on its German-made Siemens trains and faces millions of dollars in fines over its inability to meet contractual obligations.

Yesterday Premier Steve Bracks said the Government would review its partnership with Connex, but had previously expressed reluctance to bring the rail system back under public control. "Our Government will make that assessment on the basis of what is best in delivering an effective, safe reliable transport system in the future," Mr Bracks said. A Connex spokeswoman indicated it would look to have its existing five-year contract extended beyond 2008.

Melbourne University transport expert Paul Mees said the privatisation of Victoria's transport system had been an "unmitigated disaster" and recommended Melbourne adopt the model used by West Australia's transport authority TransPerth.

"We do have an organisation just across the Nullarbor which has proved they are as good as anyone in the world at operating an urban rail system," he said.

See also:

Connex may halt fleet today

The Age: February 1, 2007
Stephen Moynihan

Ilustration: Ron Tandberg

* VOTE Dump Connex?

THE entire Siemens train fleet could be sidelined as early as today — creating chaos across Melbourne's rail system — after a rethink by Connex on the faulty brakes crisis.

Under mounting pressure to allay public safety fears, Connex chairman Bob Annells will meet transport regulators this morning before deciding whether to withdraw all of the troubled German-built trains.

The rail operator has already prepared a crisis plan to run its weekday services on a Saturday timetable if all 72 of the Siemens trains are withdrawn.

The move could result in almost 400 cancellations every day, creating peak-hour chaos, worsening overcrowding and causing delays across the system.

Until today, Connex had insisted there was no need to impound the entire fleet, and its possible change of heart came after yet another incident involving the trains.

The Age can reveal that another Siemens train was impounded late yesterday after it overshot the platform at Seaford station just before 6pm.

One passenger said the driver announced the train had suffered a brake failure and then backed it up to the station.

A Connex spokeswoman confirmed the incident and said the train had been impounded. She said the cause was under investigation and it was too early to say whether it was the result of brake failure.

The spokeswoman said introducing the Saturday timetable was a contingency plan and additional services would be run in peak periods.

Thirty-three Siemens trains have now been impounded and are undergoing testing to find the cause of their faulty brakes.

Melbourne University transport expert Paul Mees said the Saturday timetable would be a disaster for commuters. "If you are at a station close to the city you would never be able to get on the train," Dr Mees said.

Connex has endured a horror month of cancellations, forcing even more passengers into already overcrowded carriages.

Last week, one Connex commuter rode in the driver's cab with 14 other passengers because there was no room left on the train. Claire Reynoldson said she tried to board a morning peak-hour train at Balaclava station when the driver invited her and a group of passengers to ride with him.

"The driver stuck his head out and said, 'Do any of you want to come in here?' and about 15 of us got into the front compartment," Ms Reynoldson said.

Several Connex drivers told The Age that it would be "bedlam" if a Saturday timetable was introduced indefinitely.

Victorian independent rail safety regulator Alan Osborne said he never planned to remove the entire Siemens fleet after the first spate of brake failures began in November.

Mr Osborne said there was no legislation forcing Connex to report brake failures and the company had voluntarily communicated with his office on each incident.

He said he had received daily updates from Connex about the testing of the Siemens fleet and said the system was safe.

Acting Transport Minister Tim Pallas said he was confident the system was safe. "I've had constant briefings from the Director of Public Transport and the independent safety regulator, who are informing me that all that can be done to address this issue is being done," he said.

State Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu renewed his call for all the Siemens trains to be impounded. "Commuters want to know they can have confidence in the train system," he said.

In a statement last night, Siemens said: "At no time during the investigations of the braking systems have we found evidence that would lead us to recommend, in accordance with our global safety standards, that the trains be taken out of service.

"We recognise the current inconvenience caused to rail commuters; however, we support the methodical and responsible approach being adopted by Connex, the Department of Infrastructure and the State Government."

See also:

Wanted: public transport that serves the public

Yhe Age: February 2, 2007

Connex has proved incapable of fixing the problems that beset Melbourne's train system. The Government must intervene.

IF IT were not so serious, it would be funny. The saga of Melbourne's trains has so many elements of farce that it is difficult to know how to begin enumerating them, although this week's revelation that passenger safety could depend on how quickly the driver pulls a key from the ignition might be a contender for most ludicrous. If this is how a well-funded public transport system is best able to ensure the safety of commuters, it is clear that the problems cannot be dismissed. A day after this revelation and well after Connex had taken almost half its Siemens fleet out of service because of brake failure — causing the indefinite cancellation of 37 daily peak services — a Siemens train overshot a platform at Seaford by 100 metres. Connex described the incident as "highly regrettable" but insisted that safety was not being compromised. That may be so but it is difficult for commuters to have confidence in a system that is so patently flawed.

This is ultimately a government responsibility. The State Government awards contracts for running the system and determines policy and infrastructure; it cannot abrogate its duty to citizens by devolving accountability for safety to a private company. There is little doubt that taking transport out of public hands in 1999 — in the final months of the Kennett government — introduced complexity, confusion and unnecessary expense to the system. It has meant that the train, tram and bus networks are managed separately by private companies at the very time when greater integration is needed if public transport is to be a viable alternative to the car. This is not just a matter of passenger convenience. Any efforts to tackle the effects of climate change will be constrained if Melburnians feel they have no reliable alternative to driving to work. The resulting congestion will have both environmental and personal consequences in the city that is so often spruiked as one of the world's most liveable places.

Urgent action is needed to guarantee a public transport system that lends substance to the rhetoric of Melbourne 2030, the strategic framework for the city's growth. Last year, passengers made 157 million trips on Melbourne trains. Following an election in which both major parties promised to abolish zone 3 fares, patronage can be expected to increase. While the decision to make fares more affordable for people in the outer suburbs was fair, the question remains: how is a system in disarray expected to cope? Before the 2002 election, then transport minister Peter Batchelor ridiculed the idea of abolishing zone 3, maintaining that the system could not cope with a passenger increase estimated at 8 per cent. To say that there are capacity problems is an understatement. But it is not simply a matter of the number of trains in the system. As Melbourne University transport planning lecturer Dr Paul Mees says, "the real capacity problem in Melbourne rail lies in management: poor accountability structures and lack of skills mean Connex and the regulators lack the organisational capacity to run a 21st-century rail system". None of this should be a surprise to the Victorian Government. Connex should have been put on notice as long ago as 2003, when it lost its British contracts as a result of financial mismanagement and poor service, problems that plagued Melbourne's system well before the current crisis.

The most puzzling aspect of Melbourne's transport woes is why it seems impossible

to offer a service that was routine 50 years ago. Before the car gained ascendancy, rail patronage in this city accounted for 201 million trips in 1950 — and no doubt peak travel periods were more demanding in an era when pubs closed at 6pm and the usual working day was nine to five, five days a week. Agreements with Connex and Yarra Trams expire in November next year and the Government must give 12 months' notice if it intends not to renew these. With huge injections of funds needed from the public purse and little hope of appreciable improvements in service and safety, it is time for the state to either resume total responsibility for the system or, at the very least, find an operator that can run it effectively.

See also:

Connex's justification off the rails

The Age: January 28, 2007
Dr Paul Mees, senior lecturer in transport planning at Melbourne University.

It's time to stop making excuses and fix the real problems, writes Paul Mees.

Last year, Melbourne's trains carried 157 million passengers, a big increase on the previous year's total. The rise was helped by the Commonwealth Games and job growth in the city centre. Connex and its government regulators tell us this surge in patronage has caused capacity problems, which are to blame for the woeful performance of the rail system. Fixing them will require huge capital investments, including projects such as the cross-city rail tunnel reported in today's Sunday Age.

These claims are self-serving nonsense. The real capacity problem in Melbourne rail lies in management: poor accountability structures and lack of skills mean Connex and the regulators lack the organisational capacity to run a 21st-century rail system.

This is illustrated by a look at history. Last year's patronage figure was lower than the 159 million recorded in 1924, the year the idea of an underground railway first emerged. The Metropolitan Town Planning Commission predicted that rail journeys would hit 370 million by 1964, saturating Flinders Street Station.

The projections were wrong because they didn't foresee the effect of the car. Rail patronage peaked at 201 million in 1950, then declined steadily for three decades. By 1964 the total was only 170 million and the number of trains entering Flinders Street in the busiest hour of the day had fallen from 116 in 1929 to 108. But the Melbourne Transportation Plan of 1969 predicted train numbers would increase to 181 an hour by 1985, and recommended building a city loop to cope.

The loop was built but it probably wasn't needed, since patronage is lower now than in 1964 and the number of suburban trains entering Flinders Street in the busiest hour has fallen to only 90. Simply applying international rail operating manuals to the number of tracks and platforms in the Flinders Street loop complex shows that current services use less than half the available capacity even at the busiest times.

So how has a capacity problem been created? Simply because the system is not being operated according to the instructions of its designers. Before the loop opened, Flinders Street operated mainly as a through station: trains from the east continued to the west and vice-versa. This is the most efficient method because trains need not be reversed. The loop was to add to this capacity, not reduce it; it was never intended that all, or even most, trains would go through it. Most would continue to run direct to Flinders Street and then to the other side of the city.

But not one regular service is scheduled to do this. Hardly any trains operate directly to Flinders Street and none of these are through-routed. This is a legacy of the Kennett government's privatisation, which split the rail system between two companies, but is continuing years after the original reason disappeared.

Similarly poor practices lie behind capacity problems on the Dandenong line.

These problems cannot be fixed without reforming the dysfunctional institutional arrangements that created them. Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky has a golden opportunity to do this. Franchise agreements with Connex and Yarra Trams expire in November next year. The Government must give 12 months' notice if it wants to extend them - until November 30 this year. If Melbourne's rail problems are to be fixed, Connex must be sent packing and replaced by a competent operator.

The other problem is the Office of the Director of Public Transport, which employs about 340 bureaucrats, or 10 times as many as the equivalent organisation in Zurich, which runs the most successful public transport system in the world. The ODTP passively monitors others instead of being made responsible for delivering results.

See also:

EXCLUSIVE Call to get train fleet off rails

The Age: January 31, 2007
Stephen Moynihan

Sidelined: While Melbourne's commuters are being crammed onto a shrinking fleet, trains that have been withdrawn from service lie idle at the Newport rail workshop. Photo: Craig Abraham

Connex is risking commuters' lives by continuing to operate suspect Siemens trains and should withdraw the entire fleet immediately, a senior Victorian transport official has said.

The official has told The Age it was "sheer luck" that no one had been killed or injured as a result of a spate of brake failures in the trains since November.

His call has been backed by State Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu, who said yesterday that the Siemens trains should have been sidelined already. "This is a safety issue," Mr Baillieu said. "This is a disaster for commuters but safety must come first."

But the calls have been rejected by Connex chairman Bob Annells, who denied that the company was placing passengers or drivers at risk, and said its handling of the situation was supported by Victoria's independent rail safety auditor.

Connex has already had to impound 31 of its 72 Siemens trains, prompting the cancellation of 37 daily peak-hour services for an indefinite period.

Withdrawing the rest of the Siemens fleet would leave Melbourne without about a quarter of its suburban trains, raising the prospect of indefinite chaos across the rail network. Connex has estimated it would have to cancel 160 daily peak-hour services under this scenario.

To alleviate concerns, Connex is operating all the remaining Siemens trains in six-carriage configurations, rather three-carriage, which means there is a back-up if the brakes fail on one set of three carriages. But the senior transport official, who spoke to The Age on the condition of anonymity, said this was a dangerous remedy. He said that if one set of brakes failed, the braking capacity of the train was halved while the load it had to slow was doubled.

"If you have a complete failure on a six-car set, you are in the same situation as a three-car train except with double the mass and potentially double the amount of passengers," the official said. "The people involved in that decision would stand a pretty good chance of having to answer to the coroner and being convicted in court.

"The worst-case scenario is an unavoidable collision at a level crossing or a rear-end collision with another train with multiple fatalities," he said. "Every day they operate these trains in these circumstances they are dicing with death."

Mr Annells rejected the official's claims, saying: "If Connex believed that the safety of our passengers was being compromised, then we would pull the whole fleet."

Mr Annells said there were more than 50 areas being investigated in a bid to solve the braking problem, which Connex has been at a loss to explain.

The transport official said problems with the brakes were associated with computers on the Siemens trains that override drivers' commands when the wheels lock. Train wheels can become locked, or lose traction, in wet or greasy conditions or when foreign objects such as leaves litter the track.

The official said that when the wheels are stationary, the computer can think the train has stopped — even though it may be skidding. He said the software overrides the driver's controls, disabling the emergency brake and emergency stop button.

"The only way to stop the train is to remove the ignition key, which shuts down the train's computer and activates the train's park brake," he said.

The Siemens trains were introduced in 2003 after they were ordered by National Express, which operated much of the suburban system at the time. After National Express withdrew, Connex took control of the entire metropolitan network and inherited the problematic trains.

Mr Annells said the decision to cancel almost 40 services a day was made to ensure the reliability of the system.

An average of 87 trains were cancelled every day this month. Mr Annells said it was better for passengers to be informed about planned cancellations than for them to occur randomly across the system.

Despite the problems, he confirmed that Connex would seek to renew its contract to operate the metropolitan rail network next year.

Premier Steve Bracks said he wanted the trains to return to service as quickly as possible. He said he was satisfied with current contract agreements, which allowed the Government to fine Connex for poor performance.

Mr Annells said Connex expected to be fined millions of dollars, but safety and returning the trains to service were the company's main priorities.

Six old-style Hitachi trains, which have no air-conditioning, have been returned to service by Connex to help fill gaps and limit cancellations.

Mr Annells said all of the Siemens trains were undergoing rigorous testing. Yesterday, The Age revealed that a Siemens train failed to stop when tracks were coated in soapy water. Mr Annells said that during that test, the train was pushed to its limits.

He said Connex was bound by moral, professional and contractual agreements to operate the network as safely as possible. "I sleep at night knowing the decisions being taken by our management have been independently verified."

Posted on 08:54 AM | Permalink

RMT: February 2 2007

GNER has failed to stop its trains spraying human waste into the atmosphere from on-board toilets, despite warnings from the Railways Inspectorate, Britain’s biggest rail union says today.

Three months after a new £500,000 tank-emptying facility was opened at Heaton depot, near Newcastle, monitoring of trains from the appropriately named Linger and Die crossing at Ferryhill, near Darlington, has revealed that the problem has worsened.

The union has demanded that the Railways Inspectorate to take action to stop the problem of a fine spray of human waste being released into the air from toilet tanks when 'Mallard' Class 91 trains go round steeply-banked bends at speed or brake heavily.

"It is now more than two years since our members working on the track near Darlington complained that they were being sprayed with human excrement and we asked GNER to deal with it," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"First they lied to us, telling us that the discharge was from air conditioning and was harmless, even though their own study showed traces of E-coli in the discharge.

"When they finally admitted that they had known about the problem for years they asked us to be patient and wait for a new tank-emptying facilty to be built at Heaton.

"That facility has been in operation since November, and the most recent monitoring, in December, showed that there was a discharge from three out of eight trains observed - worse than the previous two monitoring exercises.

"If GNER cannot find any other way to sort out the problem they will have to put in place speed restrictions in those places where the discharge is released.

"We have had enough lies and excuses, and we now need to see our members' and the travelling public's health and safety put ahead of GNER's profits," Bob Crow said.

ends

Effluent discharge from Class 91 trains
East Coast Main Line

* Nov 04: Following complaints from track staff at Darlington that they were being sprayed with foul-smelling liquid emanating from passing trains, meeting held between Network Rail and GNER. Agreed GNER would investigate problem.

* Dec 04: Scientific study commissioned by GNER confirmed effluent discharge from trains. Traces of E.coli found in track samples. Problem largely confined to sections of track with heavily canted curves. GNER and Network Rail agree no further action needed.

* Dec 04-Nov 05: In response to further complaints, track staff told train discharge was from air-conditioning system and harmless

* Nov 05: Staff advise the union of problem. Contact made with Network Rail to ascertain what they were doing to ensure staff health. HM Railway Inspectorate also advised by union as there was clearly a wider problem.

* Nov 05: Network Rail/GNER agree site visit to 'Linger and Die' crossing near Ferryhill. Discharge of effluent observed as a fine mist from one or more vehicles from most trains. Those in attendance reported that the passage of one train left a distinct taste on both the lips and tongue that lingered for many hours afterward.

* Dec 05: GNER confirms to RMT that problem had been existent for some years, mostly due to insufficient tank emptying facilities. Additional facilities planned for Heaton Depot which will permit daily emptying, but not expected to be ready until Autumn 2006. More frequent emptying cycle at existing facilities proposed as short-term solution

* Jan 06: Further site visit to Ferryhill by Network Rail, no significant improvement, discharge observed from at least half of passing trains.

* March 06: Another site visit to 'Linger and Die' crossing by Network Rail. Of the seven trains observed, two were seen to be discharging effluent as a fine spray from four coaches, and one from at least six coaches.

* March 06: Network Rail obtain independent report on sampling of the discharge at Linger and Die. Following a formal request, this report was passed to HM Railway IInspectorate who sought the views of their medical adviser. He stated:

"It is my opinion there is a significant hazard to health associated with exposure to human waste and the consequences of coming into contact with harmful micro-organisms. Airborne human waste will be straight from the holding tank and therefore, harmful micro-organisms which are likely to be present are unlikely to have deteriorated and will be viable."

* July 06: Following RMT pressure, Network Rail agreed to discuss the findings of the scientific report with the Darlington Health & Safety Reps. Also the COSHH risk assessment they had recently undertaken which merely suggested increased monitoring of staff health and consideration to be given to increasing the PPE laundry frequency as additional control measures.

* November 06: Tank emptying facility in Heaton comes into use.

* December 06: Monitoring of trains at Linger and Die crossing shows three out of eight trains were discharging effluent

NOTE:

While the problem appears worse when the train is going through places like Ferryhill where there are reverse curves, the discharge can occur anywhere where the liquid in the tanks is subject to severe movement, as may happen even on straight stretches of track when the train begins to brake hard.

Thus the problem could also affect passengers waiting on smaller stations as the trains go through at relatively high speed, members of the public waiting at level crossings, and of course any children playing in the garden of any homes that back onto the railway line.

Passengers on the trains could also be affected by the stench of the effluent, and indeed one such complaint was forwarded to RMT in November 2005 from a passenger travelling from London to Edinburgh. This was the second time he had cause to complain about the smell. Some months earlier he had a similar experience, and on that occasion GNER gave him a £10 voucher in recognition of the discomfort suffered.

Posted on 10:11 AM | Permalink

RMT: February 2 2007

BRITAIN’S BIGGEST rail union has today renewed its call for a programme to eliminate level crossings with public roads following this morning’s tragic accident at Delny near Invergordon.

"It is tragic that there has been another death and serious injuries in another collision between a train and a road vehicle at a level crossing," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"It is fortunate that the train was not derailed and that serious injury to the train's passengers and crew appears to have been avoided.

"But the tragic fact is that every level-crossing collission is avoidable, because the time is long overdue for a programme to elminate level crossings from Britain's railway network.

"Every year there are scores of level crossing incidents, including a number of collisions between trains and road vehicles, and the Railways Inspectorate has long identified level crossings as the biggest single danger on today's railway network.

"On Network Rail's own figures it would cost an average of £1 million to replace each level crossing with an underpass or road-bridge - that's about half the cost of a mile of motorway.

"Level crossings are a 19th century solution - in the 21st century it is high time for a commitment to separate rail and road traffic," Bob Crow said.

ends

Notes to editors: A ten-year programme to replace the 1,700 crossings where the railway interfaces with public roads would cost less than £2 billion - that's about £200 million a year.

Network Rail spends £14 million every day, and some £5 billion is invested in Britain's railways every year.

See also:

Rail bosses to be consulted on major new projects

Ross-shire Journal: 16 February, 2007
By Shirley Hastings

NETWORK Rail is to be consulted on major planning applications that come before the council in the hope it will add weight to the growing campaign for barriers at level crossings.

The move, which is part of an urgent re-assessment of several crossings in Ross-shire following the tragic death of two Easter Ross teenagers at Delny, comes as it was revealed this week that rail bosses were apparently unaware of several major developments in Dingwall — including the new secondary school under construction and Tesco.

In what has been hailed as an important step forward and a common sense approach, planning chiefs in the area have agreed that from now on the body will be drafted into consultations on any major planning applications.

The issue has been given a sense of urgency since the deaths of 17-year-olds Paul Oliver and Alan Thain, both passengers in a car driven by Richard Fleming when it collided with a north-bound train at the barrier-free crossing.

It also emerged this week that a safety assessment was done on the Delny crossing just “days” before the horrific accident according to a Network Rail spokesperson who said it was found “to be extremely safe.”

However, since the deaths public assurances were given last week that the rail authority would probe safety at the crossing. Despite insisting the past safety record at Delny had shown it to be regarded as “still considerably safe” a spokesman admitted “it is important that it’s looked at again.”

Although Highland Council is under no legal obligation to include Network Rail in the planning process, it is something other authorities are already actively doing.

Senior Dingwall councillor Margaret Paterson, who held a meeting last week with representatives of the local authority and Network Rail, admitted it may have been an oversight on Highland Council’s part not to have considered Network Rail in the past.

“The council has no duty to consult Network Rail and it was probably something that officials just never thought of before but it definitely makes sense,” she said.

“We have a new road planned for the town as well as housing and the new Academy, all of which could give the justification needed for barriers.”

Dingwall Community Council has this week lent its weight to safety calls by agreeing to write to Network Rail in support of barriers.

According to Cllr Paterson, the town is the only one of its kind in Scotland to have three level crossings running through it.

“Wherever you go in Dingwall you almost always have to drive over a level crossing,” she stated. “It would seem to make sense in a town like this to consult with Network Rail over big planning applications that are going to have a significant impact on traffic.

Following last week’s meeting officials from Network Rail are due to come back to Dingwall in two months time with findings from its safety assessment.

Although still pushing for barriers, Cllr Paterson is keen to see immediate improvements such as extending the hoods which cover the warning lights.

She has also been given assurances from the rail authority that it will look at the problem of the glare from the sun.

Network Rail stressed crossings are assessed on an annual basis and developments like Tesco and Dingwall Academy would have been picked up at some point during these.

“It is much more effective if we are consulted during the planning process,” a spokesman said. “Obviously if there is any major increase in traffic using the crossings that would have an impact and would have bearing on whether barriers are put in place.”

He stressed however that safety barriers do not necessarily stop people flouting the law, with some drivers choosing to weave in and out of them.

Posted on 10:06 AM | Permalink

The Guardian: February 3, 2007
Martin Wainwright

· Fathers of teenagers call for criminal investigation
· Coroner urges safety audit on footways across lines

The fathers of two teenage girls killed by an express train at a station crossing called yesterday for a criminal investigation into the tragedy, after serious safety muddles emerged at an inquest.

The Essex coroner also recommended a national audit of the system used to classify unmanned footways across railway lines, which led to two wildly different ratings for the system at Elsenham where the girls were killed.

The jury, which recorded accidental death verdicts on Olivia Bazlinton, 14, and Charlotte Thompson, 13, heard that the crossing with unlocked wicket gates had been classified as safe seven months before the teenagers' fatal Christmas shopping expedition in December 2005.

The girls were killed instantly by a 70mph through train after ignoring red lights and sirens, almost certainly because they thought the warnings applied to the stopping train to Cambridge, which had just pulled in at the opposite platform.

The coroner, Caroline Beasley-Murray, heard that Elsenham's crossing had been given a score of 28 by a routine inspection in April 2005, a level of risk that required no action to improve safety.

But two days after the tragedy inspectors armed with additional information, including the high number of young users, upped the rating to 47.

The new figure was well within the grade where additional safety measures have to be considered, and Network Rail announced shortly afterwards that a bridge would be built and the pedestrian crossing closed.

But Chris Bazlinton, a 58-year-old journalist, and Reg Thompson, a writer aged 49, said that there had been a "systematic failure" that should be punished.

"I think the authorities should look to see whether there is a case for a criminal prosecution," said Mr Bazlinton. "Network Rail's management have failed and they should be brought to account."

Olivia's mother, Tina Hughes, said: "Although the girls did cross against red lights, they were at risk simply because of the design of the crossing - had the gates been locked the accident would never have happened."

Mr Thompson said: "There is a whole litany of mistakes and incompetence and possibly negligence."

The inquest at Chelmsford heard that the girls, who both lived in nearby Thaxted, were going shopping in Cambridge. Charlotte had never been on a train without her parents before.

They had waited by the gate until their northbound service stopped opposite, but then walked straight into the path of the southbound Birmingham-Stansted Airport express.

A report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch last year called the original safety check by Network Rail "substantially flawed and incorrect". It placed the foot crossing in the highest risk category and recommended locking its gates and installing a footbridge instead.

The coroner said she would write to the rail inspectorate asking for an audit of the level crossing safety system. She also urged more cooperation between rail companies to highlight the risks of railway crossings and work for safety improvements.

A spokeswoman for Network Rail said that a bridge and locking system on Elsenham's gates was due for completion by autumn this year. She said that the deaths of the girls was a tragedy, but the company did not want to comment on their fathers' calls for criminal action.

Posted on 10:05 AM | Permalink

BBC News: 2 February 2007
One teenager has been killed and two others have been badly injured after a train and car collided at a level crossing in northern Scotland.

Three people had to be cut free from the wreckage

The train travelling from Inverness to Wick and a Ford Fiesta were involved in the accident at the automatic Delny Level Crossing near Invergordon.

Northern Constabulary said the three 17-year-olds were cut free from the car after the collision at about 0815 GMT.

The two badly injured teenagers have been taken to hospital for treatment.

They were taken to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.

One was taken by air ambulance and said to be giving cause for concern.

The second was taken to hospital by road.

One of the teenagers has since been transferred to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary by RAF helicopter.

Network Rail said the train, the 0714 GMT FirstScotrail service, was not derailed in the crash.

Cutting equipment

None of the 14 passengers was injured, and neither were four rail staff or the train driver on board. Passengers were transferred to coaches so they could continue their journey.

Spokeswoman Susie Haywood added: "It's not a very busy line, there's about one train an hour, and we're hoping disruption will be kept to a minimum."

Firefighters used cutting equipment to remove the trapped driver and passengers from the car.

The Delny crossing is at the brow of a hill about a quarter of a mile from the centre of the small coastal village.

"Level crossings are a 19th century solution - in the 21st century it is high time for a commitment to separate rail and road traffic" - Bob Crow, RMT Union

Following the accident, the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) and politicians issued renewed calls for the removal of level crossings from public roads.

Bob Crow, from the RMT, said: "It is tragic that there has been another death and serious injuries in another collision between a train and a road vehicle at a level crossing.

"It is fortunate that the train was not derailed and that serious injury to the train's passengers and crew appears to have been avoided.

"Level crossings are a 19th century solution - in the 21st century it is high time for a commitment to separate rail and road traffic."

Jamie Stone, MSP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, agreed, saying he was "uneasy" about such crossings.

Level crossing crash

The accident happened just after 0800 GMT on Friday

He added: "At the end of the day, a barrier would ensure safety."

Local householder Mandy MacDonald said of the ungated junction: "My son delivered papers down there this morning and he said there was nothing left of the front of the car.

"I can't believe there's still no barrier at that crossing, just the warning lights."

British Transport Police will carry out an investigation into the incident.

The accident comes a month after an Inverness-Kyle train hit a car on a level crossing in Dingwall.

No-one was injured in the incident.

Network Rail has responsibility for almost 8,000 level crossings - more than 600 of them are in Scotland.

Posted on 01:18 AM | Permalink

Bath Chronicle 02 February 2007

They have refused to pay fares, mounted public protests and lobbied government ministers, but are the Bath area's rail passengers winning the battle?

Ever since First Great Western introduced a new timetable and withdrew 20 carriages from service on December 10, angry commuters have been contacting the Chronicle with their travel horror stories.

After weeks of frustration at delays and overcrowding, more than 2,000 commuters staged a dramatic fare strike on January 22.

The publicity stunt prompted FGW's managing director Alison Forster last week to issue a public apology, detailing a five-pronged action plan for improvements.

But 11 days on and many users feel the train operator is still failing to deliver.

Peter Andrews, from the Bath and Frome campaign group More Train Less Strain (MTLS), has set up "Train Watch" - a day-by-day log of passengers' experiences on morning rush-hour services.

"What our figures show is that instead of the uniformly ghastly service we were getting before, we are getting a random service," he said.

"One day we'll see the London to Bristol service stop at Oldfield Park and everyone gets a seat and the next day, we're all packed in like sardines again."

Mr Andrews said FGW had been assigning the correct number of carriages to most trains in the past week, but the service remained inconsistent.

"It's totally unpredictable and we're keeping an eye on them but so far, we are very unimpressed," he said.

"It seems to us they are trying to get rid of commuters while improving first-class facilities and this is something we will fight to the end. The battle is far from won."

MTLS spokesman Tony Ambrose said the group had just set up a website, www.moretrainlessstrain.co.uk, where passengers could post comments and ideas for future campaigns.

"We're still nowhere near the services we had pre-December 10," he said.

"We want to see four coaches on every commuter train in rush hour and we want to be sure people can travel in comfort."

But FGW's external relations manager, Adrian Ruck, said the company's performance had improved dramatically since January 15.

"We have got through the maintenance backlog but there are still occasions where services have to be cancelled due to mechanical failures or problems like last week's death on the line at Warminster.

"I'm not making excuses but there are many factors that are out of our control. The track is quite old and this means it is susceptible to mechanical failures."

Mr Ruck said Network Rail was set to invest £750m over the next three years in replacing and renewing track and signalling across the region.

"This will have a dramatic effect on improving the reliability of the service.

"I'm not saying we're not responsible for delays and one-third of them are down to us, but two-thirds are probably due to infrastructure problems."

Mr Ruck said one service where capacity had permanently been increased was the 06.47 Frome to Cardiff train.

"From December 10, it began to run as two carriages but as we reviewed performance it's now back to run as four carriages as a standard change," he said.

"We are now fully up to strength with the number of carriages we have for the regular West Country fleet and since January 15 the number of customer complaints has plummeted.

"There will always be room for improvement and we will continue to monitor performance and are glad to hear from customers."

FGW has said it will be investing £3m on deep-cleaning and improving the interiors of its West Country fleet, £2m more than previously stated.

Posted on 01:08 AM | Permalink

Bath Chronicle: February 2, 2007

Actress Jenny Agutter has signed an online petition asking Tony Blair to improve train services across the west.

Famed for her roles in The Railway Children and the BBC1 drama Spooks, she is also a patron of the environmental group Transport 2000.

The petition's founder, Melksham businessman Graham Ellis, said he was delighted the star had chosen to show her support.

"The petition closes on Wednesday and it's really gathering momentum with more than 1,500 signatures.

"As well as Jenny, we have had eight MPs sign up including Don Foster, Andrew Murrison, Michael Ancram and James Gray."

Sign at http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/wessextrains/?showall=1.

Posted on 09:28 PM | Permalink

This is Hertfordshire: 2 February 2007

One year after a freight train derailed in Cricklewood, north London, an independent report has concluded "severe track twist" was primarily to blame.

People living in Dorchester Court, a block of flats next to the track, had to be evacuated when the train threatened to roll into their homes after it derailed in the early hours of January 31 last year.

It occurred at the Cricklewood Curve, a stretch of track near Cricklewood Station used only by freight trains and empty passenger trains.

The line had previously been earmarked as a route for nuclear waste trains and residents have been concerned about the increasing number of freight trains passing through.

The Government's Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) conducted an inquiry, the findings of which were published last week. It concluded the track had become twisted, mainly owing to surface layers of soil moving on the embankment.

Network Rail was aware of the problem, which had been occurring for at least nine years', and was working to rectify the problem.

But there is implied criticism of Network Rail in the report, which notes: "The track maintenance staff had not appreciated the severity of the movement before the derailment and did not carry out remedial works to correct the irregularities. The repair contractor was monitoring the cant angle of the track but was not monitoring track twist and so did not notice the hazard to trains."

One of six recommendations states Network Rail should ensure that a project is overseen by a competent person through all stages from recognition of need to construction'.

The report said that, while there were no injuries, there was the potential for injury had the locomotive derailed and potential for third-party damage and injury if the derailed wagons or their load had impacted the residential properties at the foot of the bank'.

A spokeswoman for Network Rail said: "As the report has only just been been published, we need time to study it fully and then carefully consider the recommendations."

Posted on 10:32 AM | Permalink

The Scotsman: 2 Feb 2007
ALASTAIR DALTON, TRANSPORT CORRESPONDENT

FIRST ScotRail has launched a recruitment drive for more women - and ethnic minority - applicants for a job which pays more than £30,000 a year.

FIRST ScotRail has launched a recruitment drive... Picture: Jon Savage

SHE has taken charge of driving the company. Now First ScotRail chief Mary Dickson wants to increase the number of women driving the firm's trains.

Just 21 of the company's 900 drivers are women, and the managing director is keen to see more of them in the cabs.

First ScotRail has launched a recruitment drive for more women - and ethnic minority - applicants for a job which pays more than £30,000 a year.

The company is one of just four out of Britain's 23 train operators to be run by a woman.

However, First ScotRail has a lower than average number of female drivers - just 2.3 per cent - compared with 3.2 per across the UK. By contrast, nearly one-third of drivers on the Glasgow Subway are women.

Ms Dickson now wants more women to fill one of the railways' historically most coveted roles.

She said: "The posts are open to both men and women, but we want to make the workforce as diverse as possible.

"That's why we will proactively encourage women and people from ethnic minority groups to apply. We want them to seriously consider a career as a train driver - and to reflect our brand values and style.

"I want to improve the balance of the workforce," she added.

Britain's first woman train driver got behind the controls as recently as 25 years ago, and there remain only some 600 among a total of about 18,500.

However, a series of major pay rises five years ago prompted a flood of applications from other workers, including bank managers, vets and teachers.

At First ScotRail, recruits start on £17,200, which increases to £24,000 after a year's training, and to nearly £30,300 once the training and probationary periods are completed after two years.

Drivers work a 35-hour week, with shifts of up to ten hours that include 5am starts.

Helena Wojtczak, the author of Railwaywomen: Exploitation, Betrayal and Triumph in the Workplace, said conditions had been vastly improved by anti-harassment regulations introduced in the late 1990s, but women drivers were still not accepted by some passengers.

Ms Wojtczak, who became the UK's first female train guard in 1978, said: "I was subjected to sexual harassment every day, with male colleagues saying my job was not suitable for a woman.

"Many female drivers have told me they still get negative reactions from male passengers, some of whom say they will be catching the next train instead."

'IT WAS A WISE CHOICE'

EVA Brodie turned her back on becoming a geologist to carve a niche for herself as one of First ScotRail's few female train drivers.

Ms Brodie, 27, said people generally reacted positively to her job - and she was glad to have opted for the railways rather than geology fieldwork or accountancy.

She said: "I still smile when thinking of the elderly male customer who doffed his hat and said, 'Gaun yourself'."

Ms Brodie, who is based in her hometown of Ayr, was encouraged to apply by her partner, Roger, a train conductor, after she completed a geography degree at Glasgow University five years ago. She said: "I have no regrets. It was a wise choice."

She said the main attractions were the salary, security and flexibility: "It's not a nine-to-five job, and I really enjoy it. I knew there were very few women in the role but, as a student, I had worked with men - from selling shoes to being on a computer production line.

"There's no doubt the role is very much open to women, which I welcome - and recommend. There's a real buzz to it."

Posted on 08:59 AM | Permalink

The Hankyoreh: Feb.2,2007
Photographed and written by Gang Jae-hun

Reminders of Korea’s rural past, 12 "mini" depots recognized as cultural assets

Paldang Station

Korea’s smallest train stations - usually called ganiyeok, or "mini stations" - have long provided a feeling of nostalgia, reminding of the old days when nearly everyone in the big cities had originally come from tiny little villages and would pass through these old stations, whether on the way to study and make their fortunes, or to return to their family home.

Hwarangdae Station


Simcheon Station


Ilsan Station


Dogyeongri Station

Cheongso Station

The problem is that many are ageing, and government authorities are torn between the need to make way for progress and not spend money on structures that in most cases no longer serve the same functions they used to, and a desire to preserve some of Korea’s heritage. After much study and debate, the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) has decided to register 12 out of 100 existing "mini stations" as officially recognized "cultural properties." Its decision is based on a study of 65 of the stations during the months of July, August, and September of last year and advice from experts also familiar with historical documentation on the stations.

Dongchon Station

Gudun Station

Songjeong Station


Gaeun Station

The CHA also ran into problems when residents in locales that stood to have their old stations torn down responded angrily and demanded that they be preserved. One of the compromises the CHA has offered is to move some stations to other locations and away from transport logistics centers.

Korea’s first train railroad was built in 1899.

Posted on 08:32 AM | Permalink