HC Deb 10 December 2001 vol 376 c571W
Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the length of track on the railway network suffering from gauge corner cracking was for each month between January 2000 and November 2001(a) in total, (b) subdivided by zonal area and (c) subdivided by train operating company area. [21038]

Mr. Jamieson

Railtrack advise that information is not held in this format.

Mr. Don Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what assessment he has made of research conducted into gauge corner cracking; and what action he has taken in response to the conclusions reached. [21040]

Mr. Jamieson

The Health and Safety Executive recently received copies of a report into a major piece of research into 'Head Checking' (the general term for the type of rail fatigue damage of which Gauge Corner Cracking is a particular type) carried out for Railtrack jointly by specialist consultants Ove Arup and TTCI. HSE is currently undertaking a detailed evaluation of the report's findings. The initial evaluation indicates that the report makes a very useful contribution to improving the understanding of the factors that influence the occurrence of 'Head Checking'. It would be inappropriate for any formal actions to be taken until HSE's evaluation is completed.