UK:
West Coast mainline closes for safety checks

photo : itn Railtrack imposed severe speed restrictions on parts of the network after a broken rail caused a train to derail at Hatfield killing 4 people.

The closure will effectively sever Scotland from much of the network south of the border and follows the fatal derailment of a high speed train at Hatfield last week in which 4 people died. The cause of the incident is thought to be a broken rail and Railtrack, the owner and operator of Britain's rail infrastructure immediately imposed severe speed restrictions on suspect sections of track.

While other areas face weeks of disruption due to the speed limitations, Railtrack states that this measure will allow engineers to carry out inspections with the least amount of disruption to traffic.

Train Operators Angered
A number of Train Operating Companies are angered by the move. A spokesperson for Virgin Trains which operates services on the West Coast Route stated "Although safety is the first priority for our passengers we are however concerned that the railway has been allowed to deteriorate to the extent that Railtrack has been forced to close it for three days between Gretna and Glasgow."

The managing director of ScotRail Alastair McPherson said: "We are Railtrack's biggest customer and if this is their idea of customer service it certainly isn't mine." Scotrail operates sleeper services between London and Scotland.

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