RENDEL DRAWS LESSONS FOR RAIL SAFETY IN COMMONS DEBATE

7.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 15th Dec 2004

David Rendel MP spoke in today's House of Commons debate on rail safety. Commenting afterwards, he said:

"A number of local people involved in last month's rail crash have approached me with their concerns.

"It appears that the emergency hammers provided in the carriages were not strong enough to break the train windows and the lack of emergency lighting made the task more difficult. There is a strong case for installing emergency battery-powered lighting in rail carriages.

"There is also a case for the emergency services having systematic procedures in place to collect the contact details of passengers before they leave the site of an incident. This would make it far easier in the following days and weeks to provide support services and to collect information about what happened from witnesses.

"Finally, I hope that Network Rail will review all level crossings which are close to a set of points to see whether they should be given priority when improved safety measures are considered. The train at Ufton Nervet would probably have remained upright, even after being derailed, had it not hit a set of points.

"The Health and Safety Executive makes it clear that very little could have been done to avoid this tragedy, in terms of the design either of the train or of the level crossing. But there are lessons to be learned that might help avoid future tragedies."

ENDS