THOUSANDS of responsible, professional railway men and women share the shock and disbelief felt by the nation following last week's tragic loss of life at Paddington.

Such feelings are compounded by the ill-informed, inaccurate and often hysterical national and, in some cases, regional media comment of recent days.

In the interest of restoring some balance, I would like to put on record the following facts:

The responsibility for the safe transport of rail passengers lies with the whole industry, not just Railtrack.

When signals are passed 'at danger' - as was the case at Paddington - the signal is red and is therefore working properly. Other signals which have been passed at danger (red) have also been working properly.

Railtrack has not been relieved of its safety responsibilities, but will naturally co-operate with a review of safety management systems in the wider interests of industry safety.

Railtrack's Safety and Standards Directorate is separated from the company's business and commercial interests. Among other duties, the directorate manages the process by which mandatory Railway Group Standards are produced, revised, accepted, authorised and issued. All group standards are made available to Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate (HMRI), which is part of the Government's Health and Safety Commission.

In the draft of a report which landed on Transport Minister Lord MacDonald's desk last week, the HSC said: "... bearing in mind our paramount consideration about the implications for safety, we do not see any immediate cause for concern in the way that the Safety and Standards Directorate executes the key functions...nor any reason for a precipitate change in organisation..."

The Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, has publicly said that privatisation had no bearing on the tragedy.

The attacks on Railtrack have also been attacks on the thousands of our staff in the North West and throughout the country. They are an immensely professional collection of individuals who discharge their responsibilities fully with enormous care and dedication. I find it appalling that they have to endure hostile, untruthful media coverage which shamelessly demonises all of us at Railtrack.

Well informed quality newspapers are already criticising tabloid journalism that inflates facts and relies on ill-informed, hysterical commentary. I invite your publication to publish this letter to help set the record straight. The accident at Ladbroke Grove appalled us all and was tragic enough without some serious mis-reporting.

DAVID WIGGINS, Corporate Affairs Manager, Railtrack North West.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.