§ Mr. BowisTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will announce the name of the inspector to carry out the investigation into the serious railway accident near Clapham Junction on Monday 12 December.
§ Mr. ChannonI am glad to tell the House that Mr. Anthony Hidden QC has accepted my invitation to hold an inquiry into this accident. I shall be discussing with Mr. Hidden what expert assessors should be appointed to assist him. He expects to hold an initial hearing as early as possible in January.
The investigation will be carried out under section 7 of the Regulation of Railways Act 1871. That will enable the investigation to inquire into the cause of the accident and all other relevant matters, and to make recommendations, so that appropriate lessons can be learned for the future.
Railway Accident Statistics 19881 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 *2 1980 1979 Collisions Involving Passenger Trains 18 20 19 17 17 17 15 18 13 18 Involving Other Trains 21 27 20 16 31 35 37 10 * 6 8 Between Trains & Buffers 38 33 36 35 35 36 28 39 32 34 Derailments Passenger Trains 28 20 34 30 33 25 23 35 * 28 30 Freight Trains 77 172 158 199 187 195 150 113 * 110 153 Passenger Casualties Train Accidents Killed 0 3 8 0 18 2 0 4 0 8