Industry news
Network Rail to spend £5m on brakes
Posted Wed, 15 Feb 2012
Hundreds of road-rail vehicles are to be fitted with £5 million worth of additional disc brakes, Network Rail has said.
The announcement comes on the eighth anniversary of a rail accident in Cumbria in which a runaway wagon caused the deaths of four railway workers.
A memorial service is due to be held at the scene of the incident near Tobay where Colin Buckley, Darren Burgess, Chris Waters and Gary Tindall died in 2004, while the Rail Maritime and Transport union called for better safety measures on railway tracks.
General secretary Bob Crow said: ""Today we are demanding that Network Rail stop prevaricating and give us a definitive timetable for the guaranteed introduction of the secondary protection system. On this day, of all days, we will accept nothing less."
A Network Rail spokesman said: "Safety is paramount in everything we do, which is why all the recommendations made by the Railway Safety and Standards Board following their investigation of the incident have been fully implemented. Our long-term strategy includes the development of a new generation of road rail vehicles designed specifically for railway use."
Copyright Press Association 2012