Railtrack failed us' say drivers' unions

5:42pm Monday 2nd April 2001

TRAIN drivers using the fatal stretch of rail at Hatfield had reported its condition months before the train crash last October.

Mick Rix, general secretary of the train drivers' union Aslef told a packed public meeting Railtrack had taken no action on the reports. Yet just two months after the accident which killed four people and left many others injured, he said, the company had stlll gone ahead and paid its shareholders' dividend.

The meeting, held last week in Bexleyheath and Crayford Labour Party rooms, was organised by Greenwich and Bexley Trades Council. Mr Rix put the case for bringing the railways back into public ownership.

He told them that in January, Aslef together with the other rail unions the RMT general union and the clerical union TSSA-launched their campaign Take Back the Track.

The campaign is aimed at bringing Railtrack back into public ownership. The unions claim Railtrack has “failed the nation” and “passengers have suffered a succession of serious accidents, followed by months of chaos and disruption”. They say “privatisation has not worked.”

Mr Rix claimed Railtrack had failed in its responsibilities and as a result of the fragmented rail service, there were more than 2,500 incidents a year where the safety of the travelling public was in danger. Broken rails had doubled each year since Railtrack had taken over.

A number of the audience, who are regular train users, spoke of their frustrating experiences waiting for cancelled or late trains and overcrowding in commuter trains.

The trades council agreed to back the campaign by writing to all the Bexley and Greenwich MPs, asking them their views on the aims of the campaign. About 100 MPs nationwide have already signed up to the campaign.

There are also plans for a stall in Bexleyheath Broadway to collect petition signatures and for campaign leaflets and stickers.

The campaign will also be at the forefront of this year's May Day demonstration in London, which the trades council hopes to take apart in.

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