§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what technical expertise he has sought concerning gauge corner cracking on rail tracks; and if he will make a statement. [140733]
§ Mr. Hill[holding answer 28 November 2000]: Railtrack announced on 8 November the details of a technical task force to lead the investigation into the causes of gauge corner cracking. The team is being led by Professor Rod Smith, the Chair of Mechanical Engineering at Imperial College, and is being assisted by Ove Arup and Transportation Technology Centre Inc. (TCCI), experts in programme management and track technology.
§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many trains have passed signals at danger in each of the last 12 months; and if he will make a statement. [140736]
§ Mr. Hill[holding answer 28 November 2000]: Figures for the number of trains which have passed signals at danger in each of the last 12 months are shown in the following table:
614W
Month Number of signals passed at danger (SPADs) November 1999 54 December 1999 23 January 2000 33 February 2000 38 March 2000 51 April 2000 31 May 2000 35 June 2000 47 July 2000 31 August 2000 42
Month Number of signals passed at danger (SPADs) September 2000 46 October 2000 53 Notes:
1. The figures quoted are for SPADs occurring only on infrastructure controlled by Railtrack.
2. Full details of these incidents appear in the monthly SPAD reports published by HSE. Copies of these reports have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses of Parliament.
§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the extent of gauge corner cracking on rail tracks in overseas rail systems comparable to that in the United Kingdom. [140734]
§ Mr. Hill[holding answer 28 November 2000]: The task force of technical experts announced by Railtrack on 8 November to investigate the causes of gauge corner cracking will be able to make comparisons with other countries' rail systems having similar problems.
§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many incidents of gauge corner cracking have been discovered on the railway network since the Hatfield rail crash; and in which contract area the most incidents have been discovered. [140732]
§ Mr. Hill[holding answer 28 November 2000]: Gauge corner cracking has been discovered at over 3,000 sites.
The contract areas involved are a matter for Railtrack.
§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many train drivers have been disciplined in the last 12 months for breaches of safety procedure; and if he will make a statement. [140735]
§ Mr. Hill[holding answer 28 November 2000]: The Information requested is not available, as there is no requirement for train operating companies to report instances of driver disciplinary action to the Health and Safety Executive.
§ Sir Brian MawhinneyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what reports he has received about subsidence of the loop railway lines around Hatfield since 17 October; and what assessment he has made of the reasons for such subsidence. [140581]
§ Mr. Hill[holding answer 28 November 2000]: I am advised that the Health and Safety Executive's Railway Inspectorate is not aware of any incidences of subsidence in the loop railway lines around Hatfield since 17 October 2000.