LONDON — Railtrack PLC Thursday said it is taking tighter control over its track maintenance contractors and cutting the number of labor agencies and subcontractors in a bid to improve rail safety, reports the Dow Jones Newswires.
The U.K.’s rail infrastructure operator, which has been under administration since October, said maintenance contractors will remain responsible for the quality of their work, but Railtrack will be the ultimate auditor of what the contractors do.
Currently, contractors are responsible for the maintenance of the track and decide what work needs to be done and why.
By December 2003, 85% of the track workforce will be direct employees of Railtrack’s maintenance contractors, which will significantly reduce the number of labor agencies and subcontractors used, the company said in a statement.
Railtrack, which is scheduled to become nonprofit company Network Rail as early as next week, has been plagued by safety problems for years.
These concerns reached a peak in May after a train careered off the track and into Potters Bar station north of London. Investigations are continuing into the accident, but poor maintenance has been suggested as the most likely cause.
“Together with contractors we are making sure that we have the correct strategy for maintaining a safe, reliable network,” said Railtrack Chief Executive John Armitt. “The new arrangement will allow Railtrack to decide what gets done and when. It also allows the contractors to get more skilled labor in the right place at the right time.”
The new scheme, details of which are yet to be finalized, will be introduced in the eastern region of the U.K. early next year and the rest of the country will follow by April 2004.