Union slams rail safety failures

RMT rail union has condemned the “woefully inadequate” progress towards protecting workers from runaway trailers, five years after the Tebay incident that killed four rail workers.

The RMT said that there have been at least 16 more runaways since Tebay, each with the potential to kill, and the industry has still not implemented promised protection for track workers.

The union welcomed a House of Commons motion, which expresses alarm at the failure to stem the number of runaways and the danger they pose to track workers and passengers alike.

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary said: “The massive financial squeeze on Network Rail is chipping away at standards and can only undermine safety further – they even want to do away with warning detonators that could save track workers’ lives.”

He added: “For too long safety has taken second place to profit. It is high time we saw off all the privateers on our railways and listened to the people who do the work, not the bean-counters.”