Railtrack And The Safety Of Railway Lines

EDM number 1481 in 1994-95, proposed by Harry Barnes on 18/10/1995.

That this House notes that it is the responsibility of Railtrack to ensure that railway lines are fenced off to prevent people from using them as short-cuts; further notes that Railtrack has recently produced a video entitled, Short Cut, which shows the tragic consequences of trespassing on railways; regrets, therefore, that Railtrack has been very slow in remedying two specific instances of exposed sections of the main Sheffield-London track in North East Derbyshire, near Wingerworth, and has displayed considerable confusion in responding to the representations of local people and the honourable Member for North East Derbyshire, and the well-researched reports that have appeared in the Derbyshire Times; and calls upon the Department of Transport and the Chairman of Railtrack to institute an immediate investigation into the way in which these particular matters have been handled and to examine what wider lessons there are for the whole railway network.

This motion has been signed by a total of 31 MPs.