Rail restructuring "good for safety"

Only weeks after rail unions had criticised Lord Cullen's report into railway safety for failing to address the industry's structural problems caused by fragmentation and privatisation, the government announced that Railtrack was being taken into administration.

Train drivers' union Aslef welcomed the return of Railtrack to the public sector believing it to be the first step of the radical restructuring that the industry needs.

Analysts have pointed out that it was the company's determination to pay dividends to shareholders at the expense of health and safety which lead to a catalogue of disasters. These included the Ladbroke Grove crash, where Railtrack failed to address the known problem of the visibility of a signal, and the crash at Hatfield caused by failure to replace a broken rail known about for at least nine months.

The Cullen report addressed these issues by proposing the setting up of a new independent rail industry safety body to undertake the development of railway standards and provide safety leadership in the industry. It also proposed that more money go to the HSE's Railway Inspectorate to prevent railway accidents and the setting up of a separate railway accident investigation body.

The report acknowledged the important role of trade unions and proposed a new relationship between unions and management. It said union safety reps should be involved in developing the safety cases under which the railway must operate and that unions should have places on the new rail industry safety body.