IN the wake of Monday's train collision in Lewes, the town's MP, Norman Baker, has called for urgent action to restore public confidence in the railways. As the Lib Dem's former transport spokesman, Mr Baker has long proposed greater investment in our railway infrastructure. Here he puts the case that such investment not only makes economic sense, but would also address people's concerns about safety.

AS I write this, I note the train I am travelling on towards London was probably rattling along these rails when the Beatles recorded their first single.

It is not an especially comforting thought.

Considering recent events ,now is the time for urgent action and investment in our railways. There can be no delay.

I am fed up with hearing people saying money spent on roads is investment and money spent on railways is subsidy.

Money spent on the railways is good for society, good for the environment,and good for the economy.

There are a whole range of things which need to be done to make modern, first-class railways.

We need to get people out of their cars and using trains. The only way to do that is to make trains safe and more attractive. They must be cheap, reliable and frequent.

In addition to significant investment, I want to see the Government take a stronger role in ensuring safety standards are met, and taking on the rail companies when they fail to meet those standards.

The only way for that to happen is to hand over responsibility for safety matters to a truly independent body rather than a private company.

The first matter, of course, is safety. Every year there are hundreds of incidents involving a Signal Passed At Danger, or SPAD.

The frequency of these incidents raises four key questions:

l Is driver training sufficient?

l Are the signal systems adequate and clear?

l If signals are clear, is there a need to cut out driver error by installing an alternative method of stopping a train?

l Should Railtrack have responsibility for safety matters? I am convinced privatisation of the railways has already compromised safety and this will continue as long as there is a conflict between looking after shareholders' interests and spending on safety.

Money spent on safety is not money going to shareholders. I think the conflict is there, and the system relies on Railtrack voluntarily making sure the safety standards are made while maintaining profits.

I believe responsibility for safety matters should be taken out of the hands of Railtrack and given to an independent body, possibly as a branch of the existing Health and Safety Inspectorate.

Despite the pressing need for action, there has been a general reluctance by the Government to take on the private rail industry.

Mr Prescott loves to shout at the rail companies but he has done very little to change things. Not a single significant piece of transport legislation has been passed in two years.

I acknowledge that installing a nationwide fail-safe system would be expensive, but I believe the public wants to see significant investment in the railway structure.

Successive governments have balked at the cost.

Although Automatic Train Protection (ATP) may not be necessary on all lines, it should be installed on those tracks that are deemed as areas where accidents could happen.

Brighton station is one potential trouble-spot where tracks between Worthing and Lewes cross London lines outside the station.

Investment

We need a system in place that physically prevents a train passing through a red light and does not allow drivers to overcome safety signals with the ease they can at present.

People are concerned about the safety of the railway and want something done.

Investment in railways also makes economic sense.

If you put more people on the railways you create an income stream. For years and years we have invested nothing in railways, which does not make economic sense.

I am convinced when they put new rolling stock on the line between Lewes and London we will see house prices increase substantially in the town.

Slam-door trains are less safe than modern controlled-door trains, and they are also less comfortable.

The new stock has certainly been welcomed in Brighton.

When you invest in new trains people realise it makes sense to commute via rail.

And it's not just the trains which need money spending on them. The rail companies need to invest across the board.

On Monday evening I was sitting in a meeting in Cooksbridge discussing safety concerns and service improvements with representatives from Connex SouthCentral.

We soon learned that two trains had collided just down the track in Lewes, and I went down there straight away.

They had a very lucky escape. If it had been a normal service from London, with a full complement

of passengers, it could have been a very different story.

It really brings it home when something like this happens on your own doorstep. You always think 'there but for the grace of God go I'.

It's important to put this into context. Rail travel is still much safer than the roads, but because an incident involving a train can kill so many people it obviously has a greater impact.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.