UK News 20-10-2000 Railtrack Chief Urges Radical Shake-Up who: Railtrack what: Must compromise on efficiency to make safety improvements says chief exec when: Yesterday snippet: "Gerald Corbett issued a challenge to the rail regulators yesterday," says The Telegraph. Railtrack`s chief executive said that the safety measures demanded by the public cannot be implemented at the same time as cutting costs and improving punctuality. "We have to be realistic," he said. "The sudden growth, the rapid increase in investment and the massive safety programmes are huge challenges. We cannot realistically expect at the same time huge improvements in punctuality and reductions in cost." His statement came two days after a crash at Hatfield in which four people were killed and more than 30 injured. And last night, the Virgin Cross Country 4.57pm Birmingham to Manchester train carrying 80 passengers was derailed at Stafford. There were no casualties. Meanwhile, says The Times, Railtrack has "identified 81 trouble spots where engineers fear trains could be derailed by tracks that have started to break up". The list, which was made public yesterday, details tracks used by high speed trains where "ultra-sound scans have revealed hairline cracks caused by metal fatigue". A thirty percent speed limit has been imposed on all of the trouble spots until further notice. [... more]

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