U.K. train services thrown off tracks

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, OCT. 28. Those planning to come to Britain over the next few days had better put off their visit or they are likely to be stranded in London for hours as the country faces what is described as the century's worst disruption of train services thanks to an ambitious programme of ``track renewal'' following the Hatfield accident caused by a broken rail. The London underground, however, is not affected.

Hundreds of trains have been cancelled and others are running late, creating anger and panic among commuters. Even some services on the prestigious London-Oxford line have been either cancelled or curtailed. The new safety speed limit, imposed after the Hatfield accident, means that trains are moving at a snail's pace, resulting in long delays. More than 1,800 tracks have been found to be in the same sort of condition that caused the Hatfield crash in which four people were killed.

Chaos and confusion prevailed at major rail stations in London on Thursday and Friday with people complaining that they had not been informed. Uncertain of when the next train would arrive there was scramble for seats and tempers inevitably ran high.

The Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, called the Railtrack chief executive, Mr. Gerald Corbett, on Friday and told him to speed up the work and to avoid further disruption. The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. John Prescott, said the passengers' patience was being ``stretched to the limit''.

The Railtrack authorities reckoned that it would take a few days for things to start returning to normal, and ``full'' normality could take weeks.

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Section  : International
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