The appalling loss of 26 lives in Britain's latest rail crash took place on the same stretch of track on which seven people died two years ago. It has emerged that no recent work has been done to improve the track and the two-train collision has come at a time when public dissatisfaction with the rail system in the United Kingdom has reached an all-time high.
Criticism has come not only from consumer groups but also from the regulators of the system which was privatised two years ago. Both sides charge that traffic is growing much faster than had been forecast and that more money needs to be spent on maintenance and the provision of more up-to-date safety measures.
A number of aspects associated with the crash raise serious questions about rail safety, not just in Britain, but elsewhere. The blaze which resulted from what appears to have been a glancing blow between the Thames and Great Western trains, took place so quickly and so extensively that it will be a major factor in the investigation which Mr Tony Blair has promised as a matter of urgency.
Fittings within carriages do not appear to have been attached firmly enough to remain in place and were the cause of many of the injuries sustained by passengers. Most importantly, serious questions must be raised about the condition of a section of track on which two fatal accidents have occurred in as many years.
While fatal rail crashes have not been frequent in this State, there is little reason to be complacent. Earlier this year, a draft report by the British consultancy, firm International Risk Management Services (IRMS), suggested that safety standards on the lines from Athlone to Claremorris, Mallow to Tralee and Limerick Junction to Waterford posed unacceptable risks and required urgent attention.
The final version of the report, however, stated that there were "no line sections where risk level exceeded the intolerable risk benchmark." Fine Gael accused the government of doctoring the report and while IRMS denied its report was watered down, it did acknowledge that the Department of Public Enterprise made revisions to the text.
Revised or not, the report is less than reassuring to passengers who use the three lines in question. Large amounts of money have been spent upgrading the rail services between Dublin and Belfast and between Dublin and Cork. These routes now operate up to international standards but the condition of the rest of the rail network demands urgent improvement.
In the broader context of deaths and injuries incurred across the spectrum of public and private transport, it should be realised that rail travel - despite occasional and highly-regrettable accidents - is an extremely safe method of getting from one place to another.
Deaths on the road, which run to almost 600 annually on the island of Ireland, receive far less attention. A very serious situation has arrived when we are forced to admit we have become inured and hardened to the carnage which takes place annually on our roads.