Following the expose' by the Daily Mirror, Greenpeace have held an action in London and this was printed in local S.E.Kent press regarding Dungeness A & B and the waste trains from there.
Having seen the article in the Daily Mirror last Friday, a letter was sent to them from the local Friends of the Earth group which was then amended for local newspapers. A copy of the local one is below. Most of it was printed in the Folkestone & Ashford editions. ( Just one para deleted from F'stone ed see *** at end) The Mirror didn't print it at all... There were also articles on the issue in same editions, the KM featuring comments fromBB -Co-ordinator S.FoE)
To: The Editors, KM Express: Folkestone and Ashford. (Printed 27 July) (Also sent to the Folkestone Herald-but not printed-just article on issue)
23.07.06.
Dear Sirs
The national newspaper The Daily Mirror ran a frontpage article last Friday which clearly exposed the insecurity of nuclear waste trains in the UK. The train in this case was one travelling up from the Dungeness stations.
We at Shepway Friends of the Earth have been highlighting the risks of such cross-country movements for many years. Indeed, readers may recall that just two years ago there was a second 'crash' involving one of these trains on the A259 road/rail crossing near Brookland on Romney Marsh. This was due to the fact that none of the several crossings on the line has any physical barriers only warning lights.
Following this crash though, we were promised that such barriers would be fitted but to date none have appeared nor, as far as we are aware, any plans for them. This despite the life of the Dungeness B station being extended to 2018 and thus waste trains running until at least two years after closure.
Further, these trains run slowly past rail-station platforms. At Ashford Intl station they have to pass platforms 1 or 2 because there are no rail points to take them on to the through lines. ((Since Ashford is a major rail nexus it means that the Kent rail network, along with the town itself, could be paralysed should anyone jump on board one of these trains as it passes even as a hoax. Far worse may result should anyone attempt a serious attack !)) ***
Despite this, a letter on these matters that I sent to Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks, via Folkestone MP Micheal Howard back in April, asking when the barriers would be erected and if extra rail points would be installed at Ashford has gone unanswered. In my view this would appear to indicate a serious lack of concern by the Government to the clear safety issues involved with these hazardous waste train movements.
Yours sincerely.
RD. Shepway Friends of the Earth.
*** This line was deleted from F'stone newspaper edition.
To: The Editors, KM Express: Folkestone and Ashford. (Printed 27 July) (Also sent to the Folkestone Herald-but not printed-just article on issue)
23.07.06.
Dear Sirs
The national newspaper The Daily Mirror ran a frontpage article last Friday which clearly exposed the insecurity of nuclear waste trains in the UK. The train in this case was one travelling up from the Dungeness stations.
We at Shepway Friends of the Earth have been highlighting the risks of such cross-country movements for many years. Indeed, readers may recall that just two years ago there was a second 'crash' involving one of these trains on the A259 road/rail crossing near Brookland on Romney Marsh. This was due to the fact that none of the several crossings on the line has any physical barriers only warning lights.
Following this crash though, we were promised that such barriers would be fitted but to date none have appeared nor, as far as we are aware, any plans for them. This despite the life of the Dungeness B station being extended to 2018 and thus waste trains running until at least two years after closure.
Further, these trains run slowly past rail-station platforms. At Ashford Intl station they have to pass platforms 1 or 2 because there are no rail points to take them on to the through lines. ((Since Ashford is a major rail nexus it means that the Kent rail network, along with the town itself, could be paralysed should anyone jump on board one of these trains as it passes even as a hoax. Far worse may result should anyone attempt a serious attack !)) ***
Despite this, a letter on these matters that I sent to Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks, via Folkestone MP Micheal Howard back in April, asking when the barriers would be erected and if extra rail points would be installed at Ashford has gone unanswered. In my view this would appear to indicate a serious lack of concern by the Government to the clear safety issues involved with these hazardous waste train movements.
Yours sincerely.
RD. Shepway Friends of the Earth.
*** This line was deleted from F'stone newspaper edition.