The RMT has called for an immediate halt to plans to axe up to 1,500 maintenance jobs after a report from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) revealed that six out of ten safety recommendations on track inspection and repair, arising from the fatal derailment on the West Coast Main Line in February 2007, have either not been implemented at all by Network Rail or have not been fully implemented to the satisfaction of the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR).

The damaged Pendolino involved in the Grayrigg derailment. Picture Source: RAIB Rail Accident Report (Derailment at Grayrigg)(Crown Copyright)

The report into a derailment at Marks Tey derailment contains a specific section on the Grayrigg derailment in which one person died and 30 suffered serious injuries. It states that the Office of Rail Regulation ”does not believe that sufficient work has been done” on four out of ten recommendations whilst two more of them “Network Rail has proposed not to implement”, contrary to the view of the ORR which believes they remain valid.

According to the RMT, Network Rail's failure to implement these recommendations is tied in with the job cuts and that the safety position will be undermined with lethal consequences if they are bulldozed through.

The union will be lobbying parliament on the issue on Wednesday 27th January 2010.

Bob Crow RMT General Secretary, said “It is a shocking indictment of Network Rail’s attitude to safety that, three years after the fatal derailment at Grayrigg, they have failed to either implement, or implement fully, the majority of the key track inspection and repair recommendations outlined in the report into Marks Tey.”

“There is no doubt that the impact of the planned maintenance job losses will have lethal consequences and will create the perfect conditions for another Grayrigg, Potters Bar or Marks Tey derailment. That is the message that we are taking to MP’s next week with the demand that the maintenance jobs massacre be halted immediately.”