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| We’re made to use substandard
Tubes |
The public’s safety on the Northern Line
is being put at risk, argues Councillor Lucy Anderson
Cllr Lucy Anderson with police officers in her Kentish Town
ward |
THE campaign marked by the demonstration at King’s Cross
by rail and firefighters’ unions on Saturday deserves all our
support. Government proposals to remove fire safety regulations
for sub-surface stations affect most stations in the borough.
The campaign has the full backing of parliamentarians and the regional
TUC.
Camden Council members and staff place the highest priority on safety
on the Underground. It is vital, therefore, that existing fire safety
regulations are maintained. They were put in place after the King’s
Cross disaster to ensure no similar tragedy should happen again.
No spurious ‘burdens on business’ arguments should lead
to fire safety standards being diluted. They provide essential safeguards
on means of escape, detecting and fighting fires, enforcing smoking
bans, and warning the public of danger. In addition, the regulations
ensure managers don’t cut corners on staffing levels, training
and record keeping.
The government says ‘risk assessment’ is a general process
that can be undertaken without prescribing minimum standards. Whilst
welcoming the overriding principle of risk assessment that is a
longstanding part of health and safety law, the unions and experts
agree minimum standards still play an essential part in maintaining
a safe underground system.
More widely, it is time that action is taken to improve safety on
the Northern Line – a key part of the Underground system particularly
affecting Camden. Leading Labour councillors are backing a new campaign
called NAG – the Northern Line Action Group. The campaign is
due to be launched in 2006, and will urge action to improve the
poorest performing line since 2003.
The London Assembly has highlighted that of all nine underground
lines, the Northern Line has by far the most signal and point-related
failures and track delays and the number of trains available for
service on the line have been 39 per cent below the agreed benchmark.
The line has a high ridership of around 700,000 passengers a day,
and a complex structure that causes added problems, for example
the ‘crossover’ system at Camden Town.
Moreover, the problems are getting worse not better. For example,
from April to September 2005 there was a 33 per cent increase in
the numbers of service disruptions of two minutes or more on the
Northern Line, due to trains becoming defective in service, compared
with the same period in the previous year. In 2005, at very short
notice, the Bank Branch on the Northern Line was closed for an unscheduled
three weekends in a row because of signal failures.
Despite the dismal performance record on the Northern Line, Tube
Lines itself has made massive profits since 2003, and given its
top executives large pay increases. The latest Tube Lines accounts
show a pre-tax profit of £57 million for 2004-5.
Safety on the Northern Line is an issue of real concern. There has
already been one serious derailment since 2003. It was pure chance
that the Camden Town derailment, in which seven people were hospitalised,
did not result in more serious injuries or death. And the problems
continue. Malfunctioning of the emergency braking system in October
led to withdrawal of services. The signalling infrastructure was
long overdue for replacement before 2003, but is not due to be upgraded
until 2011 at the earliest. Newer systems such as those on the Central
Line do not require trip cocks on trains that caused problems. In
addition, a new radio system essential for safety and planned for
2005 for the Northern Line will not now be commissioned until June
2007.
The Northern Line maintenance contract with Alstom is particularly
problematic. In 2004 the Commons Transport Committee highlighted
the potential safety dangers from fragmentation of the Underground
system and the consequent lack of accountability and good communication
between tube operators, their employees and contractors.
Another safety issue mentioned by the committee was the impact of
ageing assets, such as trains and signals. The Northern Line suffers
more than other lines from this problem.
Nevertheless, it is encouraging that these issues are now being
considered at the highest level by the government and the Mayor
of London. We should be vigilant about fire safety and all other
aspects of safety on the underground. And with the support of the
public, I am confident we can make the ‘misery line’ travel
experience part of history.
• Lucy Anderson is a Labour councillor for Kentish Town
and an elected member of the London Labour Party Board. |
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Angelino's finest are put to the test
WE came across Angelino Wines, sandwiched between two colourful and
aggressively self-promoting Australian wine sellers, at Islington’s
London Wine Event at the end of October.
Its owner is Farrell Anglin, whose imagination was caught by a lecture
on the history of wine making at Southgate College.
FULL STORY
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