Britain's Rail Chaos
1 December Update
The London press report that the Prime minister is now treating the ongoing rail shambles as a full scale political emergency. There is now intense pressure from Downing street to resolve the problem, raise speed restrictions and get trains running to normal schedules and back on time. With another two derailments since 27 November and a system close to collapse, this may be easier said than done. Meanwhile the airlines are reaping their profits by reducing their normal economy class allocation of seats on their internal UK flights and upgrading the seat prices to business class. It is merely a question of moving the curtain back a few rows and adding a free packet of nibbles.
27 November
The floods have abated. But Britain's travel woes have not receded with the floodwaters. Rail chaos remains. Railtrack, the company responsible for UK track maintenance and safety has belatedly been forced to identify and replace the miles of decayed and cracking track following three trail disasters. Decayed track is a safety hazard too long ignored by Railtrack in the interests of shareholders' dividends. After three disastrous rail crashes nearly 300 miles of track across the network have been identified as dangerous. Speed limits of 20 mph are now in force on those sections until they have been replaced. Despite this a further derailment occured in Scotland this weekend near Glasgow. Luckily the train was travelling at just 15 mph and there were no major casualties or deaths on this occasion.
We are promised at least six months more of chaotic conditions. Less optimistic, (more honest?) prophets suggest that it will take a year to return to normal. Pessimists, including me, wonder whether things will ever be the same again. Historians point out that the rail journey from Liverpool to Manchester now takes longer than in 1830, when George Stephenson's steam engine Rocket puffed that way. Despairing commuters and business travellers pin their hopes on HM Government stepping in to sort out the shambles before it becomes a political liability in the forthcoming General election expected to take place next May.
The rail companies have published new and emergency timetables. But they have done so with the proviso that passengers should expect alterations and cancellations without notice. They also point out that because of track maintenance and replacement their services have been reduced, cheap fares withdrawn and punctuality prejudiced. In fact we read a daily catalogue of horror stories in the press: passengers forced to stand throughout a journey in overcrowded trains running up to 4 or more hours late, (one notable journey extended from 1 to 9 hours); trains terminating miles short of their destination; trains not stopping at scheduled stations; people stranded at stations when trains dont arrive at all. Such is the chaos on Britain's once great rail system.
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