Another U.K. rail accident

Press, 8 March 1989, Page 8

Another U.K. rail accident

NZPA-Reuter Glasgow The head of Britain’s rail network has urged staff to guard against safety lapses after a third fatal crash in three months killed two people and injured 52. Onlookers said two suburban trains smashed into each other head-on as one left a tunnel near Bellgrove station in the Scottish city of Glasgow yesterday. Firemen said one of the dead was a train driver. The collision came 48 hours after one train rammed another from behind in the south London suburb of Purley, killing five people and injuring 90. British Rail has said it believes human error caused that crash. The cause of the Glasgow crash was not immediately known, but a spokesman for British Rail’s Scottish region said it happened on a stretch of line that had been converted from double-track to single track several years ago to save money. The Transport Secretary, Mr Paul Channon, rejected opposition Labour Party claims that tight financial targets for State-owned British Rail meant safety was being compromised. A British Rail chairman, Sir Robert Reid, told his 130,000 staff in a special message that they shared responsibility for ensuring safe travel. “Recent events have demonstrated tragically clearly the consequences of even the smallest lapse,” he said. In December 35 people died in a triple train crash at Clapham, also in south London. Faulty signal wiring was blamed for that accident.