Safety is shunted aside, say Paddington survivors

Survivors of the Paddington train crash today condemned rail chiefs for not completing all the safety recommendations made in the wake of the disaster.

They claim that five years on from the crash, the rail industry is putting punctuality and speed before safety issues.

In a hard-hitting warning, the Paddington Survivors' Group (PSG) announced they would stage a pointby-point review of the safety recommendations made after the crash. It will be published on 11 December, three years to the day after ministers, MPs, rail managers, trade union leaders and representatives of the PSG signed an agreement to implement the safety recommendations.

Latest statistics show that of the 295 recommendations ordered to improve rail safety in the wake of the Paddington and Southall disasters, 27 have yet to be implemented. The most serious of these is an £800 million state-of-the-art radio system designed to reduce the risk of a major collision.

The GSM-Railway system was originally ordered to begin operation in 2008 but has been delayed until 2013. A limited version on selected lines should have been completed by last January but has still not been put in place. It provides secure voice and data communications between drivers and signallers and was a key recommendation of the Cullen Inquiry. It will also connect train drivers with track engineers and station staff. The inquiry heard there were delays in communication between signallers and the Thames Trains service.

Network Rail said much of the delay was caused by planning problems, with up to 2,000 new masts needed.

The inquiry also recommended a sophisticated safeguard that would halt a train automatically if it passed a signal at danger. This would be a considerable advance on the Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS), which has been installed but only works at speeds of up to 75mph. The European Traffic Control System would halt all high-speed trains but has not yet been fully designed.

There is no time limit set for the full implementation. The majority of the recommendations not yet completed concern technicalities in setting up new reporting procedures and the formation of a designated Rail Accident Investigation Board, which needs legislation. The Health and Safety Executive said: "We have tried to be realistic in what has been done and what has still to be achieved."

Bill Callaghan, HSC chairman, said there has been "considerable progress" in improving safety standards.

The Network Rail spokesman added that TPWS had reduced the risk from trains passing signals at red by 52 per cent. He said that 91 per cent of recommendations made in the wake of the Paddington disaster had been completed.