§ Earl Attleeasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will place in the Library of the House all reports concerning the most recent safety exercise carried out in the Severn Rail Tunnel this year. [HL591]
§ The Minister of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Macdonald of Tradeston)The emergency services (fire and ambulance) and Railtrack are currently holding monthly exercises to familiarise personnel with the Severn Tunnel. There is also a Severn Tunnel Contingency Planning Group which is a multi-agency group facilitated by Railtrack. Its last exercise was a communications exercise on 12–13 August last year. This involved the British Transport Police, the Avon & Somerset and Gwent police forces, and the fire and ambulance services on both sides of the tunnel. Reports on exercises are done internally within each service with joint lessons shared through the group. No reports are published.