Re: Big train wreck in England! - 70 Dead?

["David Ready" <ds_ready@usa.net>]

James Brook <ajmbrook@ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
37FC4629.BB945056@ozemail.com.au">news:37FC4629.BB945056@ozemail.com.au...
>     A radio report said that the death toll has risen to 70. I'm not sure
if
> this is correct, so don't blame me if its wrong!

Unfortunatley we may never know the final figure because of the totally
burnt out 1st Class front carriage on the HST. The Sun newspaper this
morning has a huge "100 Dead" headline. So 70 won't be too far off. We have
been following the BBC news here very closely as we get BBC1 on cable here
in The Netherlands and the coverage has been quite horrifying and scary. And
very little comment from the government I might add.

Thank goodness our railway system is much much safer in Sydney. Correct me
if I am wrong but I am sure that Sydney Central Station has more train
movements than Paddington and Waterloo put together and the very fact that
the Sydney rail system is so safe is a credit to the early planners and the
current managers of it.

We were in London for business last Friday. We drove from The Netherlands to
Maidstone. I was considering leaving the car at Maidstone and catching the
train to London but instead we decided to drive in. The cost of the parking
station behind Harrod's was £23 for 8 hours but I made the comment to my
partner, "that would still be cheaper than two return tickets to Maidstone".
Now instead of cost being the consideration it will be the question of
safety. The BBC is right in saying that confidence has been shattered and
"this will be the turning point in British rail safety". We can't wait to
come back home to Sydney once our contract is finished here.

David