Closures to two major railways within 24 hours - both caused by derailments - are symptomatic of a culture
of cuts and privatisation,
transport union RMT said
yesterday.

A line between Gloucestershire and Wales will be closed for four days following the derailment of a freight container, while in London a freight train came off the tracks at Camden Road station, causing overground services between Gospel Oak and Highbury and Islington to be cancelled for the next few days.

The union said it was a "miracle" that only one was hurt in the incidents which both occurred on Tuesday.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "This pair of major derailments within 24 hours is deeply worrying and suggests that the policy of cutting maintenance jobs and casualising key works out to private agencies and contractors is coming back to haunt transport services with a vengeance.

"It appears that no-one was injured in either incident and that is nothing short of a
miracle.

"RMT will play a full role in the investigations into both derailments but we will also be stepping up our campaign to halt the jobs and maintenance cuts on Britain's railways that create the perfect conditions for exactly these kinds of accidents."

It was just luck that the engine at Camden was not a nuclear train, RMT said.

They insisted that there was a real possibility it could have "toppled from the elevated section and into Camden Gardens."

Mr Crow added: "The shambolic handling of this derailment by a myriad of different bodies reinforces the need for public ownership of rail under one accountable, public organisation."