Transport -
Crap on the track
Toilet
waste from trains is building up on parts of the
rail network, affecting track inspections and
raising fears about health risks to staff.
Inspections have had to be altered in Nottingham,
where one track worker says maintenance is
suffering - a claim denied by management. All new
trains are able to store their waste in retention
tanks, but the old "slam-door" rolling
stock and some high-speed diesel trains still
dump it on the tracks. The mess litters the
railway nationwide and samples are being tested
for disease by rail safety experts. Although new
stock is being introduced all the time, the
problem is increasing in areas where trains are
spending more time in stations.
Track maintenance staff at Nottingham station
have abandoned their vain attempt to remove more
and more of the stubborn discharge from the
rails. One track worker said the problem meant
some maintenance work was not being carried out
and platforms may have to close within weeks, if
a major fault was detected. He said the problem
demoralised staff, who feared for their health.
But Serco, which works in the East Midlands for
Network Rail, denied work was being neglected.
Contract director David Godley said a specialist
firm was removing the waste when repairs were
required.
Track inspections have also been altered so staff
do not have to tread on parts of the track
heavily coated with waste. But the Health and
Safety Executive said the new practices were not
compromising safety. Nottingham station's owner,
Central Trains, has promised a major clean of the
track. Rail safety experts are also studying the
possible risk of workers contracting disease and
the effect on staff morale. A Rail Safety &
Standards Board spokeswoman said the study's
findings were three months away, but samples of
discharge were being tested for disease bugs such
as hepatitis A and gastroenteritis.
The HSE says workers are sufficiently protected
by their standard issue clothing and risks to
passengers at platforms is negligible. A
spokesman for the RMT union said, "Health
and safety is the number one priority in the
railway industry. But usually, you think of large
lumps of metal moving at great speeds - this is a
biological source of danger which is too often
not treated with the urgency it deserves."
When the trains are moving, the excrement is
dispersed, but toilets flushed at stations -
despite the warning notice to passengers - leave
a mess on the tracks that eventually becomes a
residue of white tissue.
John Cartledge, deputy director of the London
Transport Users Committee, said it was
unattractive for passengers, but getting a seat
was a far greater priority. He said, "It
does nothing to enhance the amenity of the
station environment and does nothing to improve
the perception of the way the railways are
managed." Soroptimists International, which
champions women at work, investigated passenger
safety last year by inspecting 68 stations. June
Bridgeman, who headed the report, said they found
human excrement with litter on tracks at
platforms, and the situation had deteriorated
over the past five years.
She said, "It's not trivial. It's well known
from research that graffiti and litter are key
factors in making people feel neglected and
unsafe." A spokeswoman for Network Rail
said, "We're working with contractors and
train operating companies to keep the tracks
clean and deal with the effluent waste and litter
whenever it appears. But the emphasis should be
on train companies which do not yet have
retention tanks." She said they were using
new equipment such as trays and sheets to stop
the waste falling on the track, and had asked
train firms to lock toilets at stations.
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