Safety Measures (Hansard, 26 April 1948)

§ 10. Commander Galbraith
asked the Minister of Transport whether he is aware of the public concern over the number of serious railway accidents which have taken place during the last two years owing to failures of the signalling system; and whether he will take steps to ensure the adoption by the Transport Commission of adequate safety measures.

§ 11. Mr. William Teeling
asked the Minister of Transport whether he can make a statement about the railway accident caused by the pulling of a communication cord on 17th April; and whether he proposes to direct the Transport Commission to make further investigations to make it possible on electrified railways as well as steam railways for following trains to be automatically stopped.

§ 15. Sir Wavell Wakefield
asked the Minister of Transport if in order to minimise accidents on British Railways, he will direct the Transport Commission to investigate immediately the possibility of equipping trains and control points on the railway system with up-to-date methods of shortwave means of communication, as used by aircraft and shipping, so that train crews can communicate with each other and their control points instantaneously.

§ Mr. Barnes
Under the Transport Act it is the responsibility of the British Transport Commission to pay due regard to the safety of operation of the services for which they are responsible. A function of my Department in the case of railway accidents is to investigate their causes and to make appropriate recommendations. I have no doubt that the Commission will attach great weight to any such recommendations as the railway companies did in the past. With regard to the collision which occurred at Winsford on 17th April, 6 the inspecting officer has commenced his inquiry and has advised that the stoppage of the train by the pulling of the communication cord should not have led to an accident, but I must reserve any further statement until I have received his report. I should like to take this opportunity of expressing my sympathy with those who were injured, and with relatives of those who were killed, in this regrettable accident. I am drawing the attention of the Commission to the suggestion made by the hon. Member for St. Marylebone (Sir W. Wakefield).

§ Commander Galbraith
Is the right hon. Gentleman satisfied, as a result of the investigations, that British Railways have at their disposal a sufficient number of fully-qualified signalmen, and will he suggest to the Transport Commission the possibility of their introducing generally the safety devices which have been operated over so many years with such great success by the Great Western Railway Company?

§ Mr. Barnes
As I indicated in my original reply, I would rather not go further with regard to the inspecting officer's report until I receive that report. With regard to the introduction of any further safety devices, I would remind the House that the officers who look into these inquiries always, arising from their report, recommend any improvements in signalling or any other method that will add to the safety of the travelling public.

§ Mr. Teeling
Am I to understand from the right hon. Gentleman that now that the railways have become nationalised, the whole nation, who are very anxious about their position in regard to travelling on the railways, are not to be able to ask questions, as I have done, about particular accidents, especially with regard to the electrified railways?

§ Mr. Barnes
That is an extraordinary assumption and is not justified at all by the very full answer which I have given to hon. Members' Questions—

§ Mr. Teeling
The right hon. Gentleman has not answered my Question.

§ Mr. Barnes
Oh, yes. The nationalisation of transport has not in any way interfered with the machinery of inspection of the Ministry of Transport into any accident of this character. The hon. 7 Member who referred to a specific point as regards the alteration in the signalling methods or machinery, is, I think, very well aware that to apply his suggestion to the mainline railways would be an enormous task and would require the very serious and full consideration of any body which was responsible. It would depend on the capital resources, and the men, material and other factors available.

§ Mr. Sparks
Is the Minister aware that there have been serious staffing difficulties on the railways in recent years, and to some extent that may be a contributory factor; and will the Minister also request the appropriate authority to make the causes of these accidents much more widely known among the staff concerned than they are at the present time? If that is done, I think it will assist very considerably to tighten up any looseness that appears to exist.

§ Commander Galbraith
Will the right hon. Gentleman satisfy himself that there are sufficient qualified signalmen available to British railways? This is a matter of importance.

§ Mr. Barnes
As I have already indicated, I do not want at this stage to be drawn into an assumption, either by inference or otherwise, that there was any failure because of the staffing of the railways. In a situation of this kind it is essential that the Minister should await the report of the officer who was appointed to investigate the disaster fully.

§ Mr. Champion
Will not the Minister use his power to direct the Transport Commission to instal these devices, because every signalman, when he reads these reports and knows what has happened, feels, as I have felt in similar circumstances, "There, but for the grace of God, go I." That is the position of signalmen in that respect, and it will remain so until the railways put into operation proper safety devices which are known by every signalman to exist.

§ Brigadier Medlicott
Is the Minister aware that the communication cord is, in fact, a very old-fashioned device indeed, and is not the time long over-due when more modern methods, such as telephonic or short-wave communication, should be installed for the safety and convenience 8 of passengers? If there is any technical reason why that cannot be done, could it not be made known?

§ Mr. Teeling
Will the right hon. Gentleman assure the House that the question of cost will not make improvements less up-to-date than would have been the case before nationalisation?

§ Mr. Barnes
I thought I had made it quite plain that I do not want to be drawn into discussions on methods at this stage, but on the general question whether any improvements or alterations which are found desirable could be made in the future as well as, or better than, in the past, I should say that the British Transport Commission will be in a more favourable position, in regard to finance, to carry out any changes than the many separate undertakings would have been.