[NukeNet] Scotland: Engineers to check 700 points

[The Roy Process]

http://www.sundayherald.com/
news/heraldnews/display.var.
1217859.0.engineers_to_
check_700_points.php

Comment:
They use the railroads to ship nuclear waste.
All they are worried about is profit and who pays
liability. Well...don't let all the disease, birth 
defects and dead bodies get in the way!

Dennis F. Nester
  

Engineers to check 700 points
NETWORK rail engineers will check up to 700 points across the entire rail network as a precautionary measure following the Cumbria crash.

Engineers have already started the nationwide safety checks after it emerged faulty points were the most likely cause of the Virgin Pendolino train's derailment on Friday which killed 84-year-old Margaret Masson.

And rail union leaders have hit out at Virgin owner Richard Branson's suggestion yesterday that responsibility for maintaining tracks could be transferred to private train operators, claiming it is the "complete reverse" of what is needed.

Police confirmed maintenance work was carried out on the track last week before rail accident investigator Thomas Edwards said their inquiry would concentrate on a set of points.

John Armitt, chief executive of track operator Network Rail, said: "Having a set of points immediately prior to an accident always makes those points very suspect and given the informa- tion we have ... that's the focus of attention.

"There is a possibility that it has been something which has occurred which Network Rail is responsible for. I hope that's not the case, but I have to live with the reality that it could be something which has gone wrong under our watch."

However, Richard Branson called for a rethink on track maintenance. He said: "We've said in the past that the companies that actually use the track should have some say in maintaining the track."

His comments were met with anger from members of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union.

General Secretary Bob Crow said he was filled with "horror" at the idea of dividing the tracks among private train firms, arguing fragmentation has always been at the heart of the railways' problems.

Crow said: "Handing the track network to the private sector was bad enough when it was done by a single organisation but splitting it up and handing it to a host of operators whose sole aim is to make a profit would be a recipe for further disaster."

10:37pm Saturday 24th February 2007


By David Christie




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