Morning:
13°c
An awesome and ridiculous film that leaves you thrilled beyond the point of your natural endurance
London faces a wave of bus and Tube strikes that could cause chaos for millions of passengers as unions walkout over pay and conditions
More...
Packed trains safer in crashes, claim rail chiefs
Last updated at 17:22pm on 23.01.07
Safe?: Rail bosses c,aim packed trains are safer to crash it
Rail bosses sparked fury today as they told commuters: “Packed trains are safer.”
The Office of the Rail Regulator, which monitors safety on trains, came under fire for its claim, made after MPs demanded they act to end overcrowding on safety grounds.
• Heroes of 21/7: Passengers reveal how they challenged bomber
Sign up for the latest news alerts
It comes amid the growing row over cattle truck conditions on London's commuter trains.
Newbury Tory MP Richard Benyon wrote to Bill Emery, chief executive of the Office of Rail Regulation, this month asking him to take whatever action possible against First Great Western for the “appalling service” from West Berkshire to London.
An ORR spokesman said: “Research in the late Nineties... found that where there was a crowded or overcrowded train carriage there was no detrimental effect to people involved in crashes. In a lot of cases people were better off in train carriages where there was overcrowding.”
The spokesman added that the ORR had no say in setting the number of carriages on trains or the level of service.
“Service levels are set by the Department for Transport,” he said. “We are the safety regulator for the industry. However, there is no legal limit on the number of passengers that can travel in any given train. There is no safety law regarding the maximum number of people in a train carriage.”
MPs were stunned by the ORR stance, particularly by seeming to defend overcrowding on the basis that it may protect passengers.
“That's got to be the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard,” said Conservative MP for Didcot Ed Vaizey.
“It's like arguing you should pack a family saloon with 12 people as a road safety measure. People have got to stop passing the buck.”
Shadow transport secretary Chris Grayling added: “Given the scale of the problem of overcrowding, it's insensitive and crass to say the least to say people are better off in packed trains.”
Mr Benyon said: “This blame-go-round can't continue.”
The Department for Transport said action was being taken to deal with overcrowding and claimed £88 million was being spent every week for five years to improve the network.
The spokesman added: “We are already increasing capacity on Britain's busiest rail routes, and this will continue. Investment is at record levels and we're also working to make best use of existing capacity.
“Major projects which will deliver more services include the high speed line between London and the South-East which will provide 10,000 extra seats in the peak, and the West Coast Main Line modernisation which has already delivered longer trains into Euston.
“We're seeing more peak services, for example on Chiltern Railways, and South West Trains will deliver longer trains on key commuter lines. This month First Great Western started introducing refurbished high speed trains, which increase capacity by 35,000 seats a day.”
Reader views (16)
Fools - utter idiots.
- Neil Berrecloth, London
The comment by The Office of the Rail Regulator just reinforces the self evident fact that trains both in terms of the train operators and regulators are run by cretins.
- Guy Penman, Reading
Clearly, there are no resources for providing extra long trains this year, but next year it will no doubt justify a 10% above inflation rise in tickets. I'll put money on that being the justification for increases next year.
- Lisa, London
What a joke! Research in the late 90's - a lot has changed since then! They need new research. What about the crush of extra people onto those at the bottom of the pile when a train overturns, or don't they matter? I was opposite an open door when a train was fillling up and ended up hardly being able to breath where people were forcing themselves in the carriage; it was frightening. I suppose I couldn't have fallen over, but I would have stopped breathing in the crush! On the South Eastern line a few years ago, the platforms were all lengthened to accommodate longer trains. Where are they and what happened?
What happened was that they now have the same length train, newer, but with less seating and more standing (cattle truck springs to mind)! With more commuters we need longer trains with seats for a comfortable journey. I've been travelling for over 20 years and hate train travel more than ever now. ORR are 'passing the buck'.
- Anne, London
Suggestion to Department for Transport:
Remove all seats in aeroplanes, cram the passengers in and let them sit down only in the toilet area. Just think how many more people can travel!
- Bethany Gleave, Ealing
“Packed trains are safer”. That's probably why you get no casualties in train crashes in India!
- Dave, Pontypridd
None of this is helped when the Strategic Rail Authority measures SPADs (signals passed at danger) as a fraction of the total number of miles of track in use by each TOC (train operating company) - whoever heard of a .0025 SPAD - what nonsense, no wonder the rail system is in chaos - a ship of fools!
- Karl, London
Just how do the geniuses at the ORR suggest all those extra passengers evacuate the train in the event of a fire? This lot will have you travelling on top of the carriages before much longer.
- Richard, Madrid, Spain
And this is from the regulator!? Scary stuff.
Reid's "not fit for purpose" springs to mind.
- Max, London
No trains is even safer!
- Andrew, Teddington
Have these people actually travelled on a packed train in rush hour, day in day out! Even animals are transported in better conditions and they don't have to pay for it! They must be waiting for people to be crushed to death before they do anything about the situation - just another example of what a joke this country has become!
- Sue, East London
Oh, so that makes it all alright then?
Absolutely ludicrous.
- Flo, London, UK
The Office of the Rail Regulator should be disbanded. 300 people who put out pie charts and do little else -- except make silly comments on matters of public safety.
- Phil Jones, London UK
How come people like this are allowed to keep their jobs? They're obviously as thick as two short planks.
- Andy, London
Maybe we should all try and cram into the spokesperson's car on the grounds of keeping that person safe.
Less passing of the buck and more actions please.
- Paul Lawton, London, UK
What a laugh — is it too much to ask that they just don't crash the trains, in that case?
- Jonny, London
