Train safety

I work on the railways, and i feel totally safe at all times. I hear some shocking stories of the way Network Rail go about their business but it is all stories. The main concern for me is when fully competant staff such as Train Guards are involed in industrial action. Managers and retail staff are 'trained' to act as Train Guards to keep the service running. These Temp. Guards have as little as 6hr training, compared with 15wks for a fully competant Guard. A Guard needs to know every station, signal, tunnel, junction, speed restriction and the 100's of ticket types and different classes of trains we have to work. The ...

The problem with trains, and for that matter planes or buses, is that they carry an awful lot of people. Therefore, if something goes wrong it goes wrong for potentially hundreds rather than just a handful. That is why train crashes make the news without exception whereas the numerous car crashes which have no doubt occurred today are unlikely to even make national papers. The recent train accident in Cumbria was very unfortunate, and I feel nothing but sympathy for those involved. However, I also feel great sympathy for anyone killed, injured or scared on the roads today. In a one hour trip the other day I had the 'pleasure' of umpteen stupid ...

What a shambles. Potters Bar must be added to the tragic litany of avoidable disasters that have happened since the break-up of British Rail in 1996. Seven dead - seven families bereft of their loved ones; scores of people injured, some critically ill, and all of them destined to bear the physical or psychological scars of this horrific experience for the rest of their lives. Whereas the direct cause of the accident remains to be established - incompetent maintenance and slipshod safety inspection seem likely - the ultimate cause is clear, just as it was at Hatfield in October 2000: this is what happens when public services are run to satisfy private greed, ...