09.02.1995

Running for profit

THE REALITIES of rail privatisation are beginning to manifest themselves. Roger Salmon, the franchising director, has announced a minimum timetable for the train operating companies (TOCs). This is the level of service that any TOC will be required by law to provide. Not surprisingly the minimum service level is far below that which now prevails.

Major cuts are envisaged in off-peak services. So much for the government’s promise that service levels would be based on the existing timetable.

Salmon also announced that through-ticketing would effectively be withdrawn with only a small number of ‘core’ stations being required to provide such a service. Most station and on-train ticket issuing will be at the discretion of the TOC operating the train - and why go to the trouble of selling tickets for another operator?

On the safety front another nail was driven into the coffin when two trains collided at Kirkby-Stephen on the Settle to Carlisle line. Railtrack admitted that it had six minutes prior warning of the impending crash from the driver of the derailed train via the cab radio. It was unable to contact the driver of the second train via his cab radio because British Rail had bought the cheapest available system that has ‘blind spots’ due to hills - something the rail lines across the Pennines are not short of.

In these days of mobile phones and satellite systems it is criminally negligent not to fit all driving cabs with this technology. Had it been available, this accident and the previous one at Cowden could have been prevented by a simple telephone call.

Instead four people have lost their lives.

Aslef driver, Manchester