Officials deny Randstadrail was unsafe

Saturday 27 January 2007

The launch of the RandstadRail light railway line last October was 'safe and responsible,' officials said on Friday evening. They were responding to an article in the Volkskrant which claimed transport ministry inspectors had not been told about technical problems with the points and that the system had only been tested for three days.

Officials from Stadsgewest Haaglanden - an umbrella grouping of nine local authorities - said warnings by supplier Siemens had been taken seriously.The problems identified by Siemens did not refer to the points and had been solved prior to the launch.

They said the decision to go ahead with the launch followed approval from the operating companies, the safety manager and independent safety assessors. There was no need to keep the transport ministry inspectors informed of progress, the officials said.

RandstadRail was shut down at the end of November after four derailments. It is set to begin operating again on Monday.

© DutchNews.nl

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