<b>Exclusive:</b> railway workers scandal

The shocking truth about safety standards on Britain's railways can be revealed today.

One month to the day after the Potters Bar disaster - in which seven people were killed and 76 were injured because of allegedly poorly maintained tracks - our investigation uncovered a crumbling network under the care of an unsupervised workforce of badly trained operators.

After receiving just six hours safety training - less than half the stipulated amount - an Evening Standard undercover reporter was sent out on to work on the railways.

The catalogue of safety breaches he saw during his time included:

? Being initially offered a maintenance job without an interview and with his references never taken up or checked.

? Rail employees working illegal double shifts of up to 20 hours a day - combining night-time rail repair work with day-time safety duties. Their exhausting routine was allegedly carried out with the knowledge-of rail contractor Bridgen Enterprises despite legal guidelines which state no worker can work more than 12 hours at a time.

? Rotting sleepers and bare cables ignored by a workman in charge of site safety, who admitted he was so fearful of the "horrendous" condition of the track he refused to travel by rail himself.

? Another employee in charge of looking out for oncoming trains ignored the line while he gossiped with a friend.

? Workers being forced to sign a form stating they had been fully briefed on safety matters - when no such briefing had been given.

Today Railtrack said it was launching an investigation into the safety breaches.

A spokeswoman for the company said it would consider striking Bridgen Enterprises off the list of approved contractors.

She said: "You cannot have workers in safety-critical jobs breaching regulations on shift patterns. The prime issue is safety on the railways and workers doing double-shifts clearly jeopardise that. I am appalled by the information in this report. We have struck contractors off for these sort of safety breaches before.

She added: "We take such incidents very safely and are grateful to the Evening Standard for bringing them to our attention." The RMT union today demanded an urgent meeting with Transport Secretary Alistair Darling over the breaches of safety rules.

Bob Crow, the union's general secretary, said: "It's obvious that the contractors are totally out of control. It beggars belief that such outrageous safety breaches were taking place days after the Potters Bar crash. It is incredible that trackmen in safety critical jobs are getting away with working 20 hour days.

Anthony Smith of the Rail Passengers' Council, called the findings "very, very worrying. He added: "The thought of people working such hours in safety-critical jobs is quite appalling."

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