Hidden Dangers: Railway Safety in the Era of Privatisation
In theory - and largely in practice - railway travel is and should be one of the safest forms of transport known to man. Right through railway history, the lessons from accidents have been learnt in order to ensure that, in principle, a similar incident can never threaten life again. By the late 1980s, such was the level of safety on the railways that it was possible to record in a number of years that no passengers had been killed in railway accidents. It seemed that the lessons from the past had been well learnt and that major accidents with a great loss of life could never hap-pen again. And then came Clapham ...
It is now more than 10 years since the horrors of that early morning in December 1988 when two commuter trains collided before being hit by a third, leaving 35 killed and numerous others injured. The Public Inquiry after Clapham highlighted a number of issues about rail-way safety, such as the provision of Automatic Train Protection, which, at the time were to be acted upon, but in the decade since Clapham what has happened to these concerns? In terms of the railway business there has probably not been a more significant decade since the 1940s, with the fragmentation of the industry into more than 100 separate components - from Railtrack and the 25 Train Operating Companies to the myriad businesses involved in maintenance. Privatisation has undoubtedly led to increased concerns about railway safety and Hidden Dangers: Railway Safety in the Era of Privatisation is a detailed and controversial account of the issues of contemporary railway safety.
Building upon the success of his earlier two books - Danger Signals and Danger on the Line - Stanley Hall, a professional railwayman of many years' standing with an intimate knowledge of railway safety, discusses in detail the causes and consequences of the railway accidents of the past decade. In doing so, he examines the implications for the rail-way industry of these accidents and how the lessons from them can be incorporated into the 21st century railway industry. Comprehensive and controversial in its coverage, Hidden Dangers is an essential read for anyone interested in the nature of the modern railway industry and how it will cope with the issues of railway safety in the private sector.
Hardback with dust jacket, 128 pages, black & white photographs
Condition: Good/Very Good
ISBN: 9780711026797
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