British travellers face rail chaos

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- British rail travellers are facing a weekend of chaos after safety fears sparked the largest programme of emergency track repairs for more than a century.

Twenty-five miles of track are being replaced after engineers found 1,850 rails with hairline cracks similar to those which caused the Hatfield crash that killed four people.

"Over the weekend, hundreds of teams of workers will be laying over 41,000 metres of rail at more than 160 sites across the country," a Railtrack spokesman said.

Clapham Junction in south London, one of the busiest railway interchanges in Europe, will be partially shut to allow track inspections to take place.

Speed restrictions of 20-30 miles per hour have been imposed on some of the worst affected stretches of track, causing severe delays for commuters.

Railtrack pledged on Thursday to give at least 24 hours notice before closing lines, after apologising for the chaos caused in Scotland when it suddenly shut the West Coast main line on Wednesday for three days. The line has now re-opened ahead of schedule.

Rail chiefs have announced a series of plans to improve safety and pledged to put into place measures to fix faulty tracks around the country within two weeks amid warnings of more delays and growing lack of public confidence in the rail industry.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair told Railtrack on Friday to carry out the crucial safety work in a way that minimised inconvenience for travellers.

Blair met Railtrack chief Gerald Corbett and Transport Minister Lord Macdonald at Downing Street.

"The prime minister emphasised the importance of striking a sensible balance between vital safety work and the need to keep the network moving," his spokesman said.

Macdonald said: "The sooner these essential safety checks are completed, the safer people will feel and the sooner timetables will be back to normal."

The Hatfield crash on October 17 came a year after an accident on the Paddington line into London claimed 31 lives.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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