CHANNEL TUNNEL SAFETY
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Wilson Mawhinney has driven in fog a thousand times. Like other professional road users, he knows it's a hazard which demands the utmost respect. For an experienced driver like him, it should be little more than minor nuisance.
Except that, ever since last November's Channel Tunnel fire—in which Wilson and several other British truck drivers came within minutes of death—he has been unable to drive through fog without his pulse racing and panic overtaking him. The 32-year-old long-distance specialist from Ballyclare in Co Antrim also admits he can no longer get to sleep without a light on.
In the of-ten excessively macho world of haulage, confessing to fears of everyday situations like these requires a great deal of courage. But such was the effect of the fire that many of the 31 British and European drivers who were trapped have suffered long-lasting physical or psychological damage.
Ian Edwardes from Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire still suffers severe headaches and coughing fits six months on. Doctors think his recurrent kidney problems may also be the result of smoke inhalation From the tunnel inferno.
Other victims are having psychiatric treatment to try and get over the trauma. One is even undergoing hypnotherapy to succeed until a bitter public row over future safety measures has been resolved.
In the wake of Eurotunnel's internal inquiry into the blaze, the heat of that debate has been almost as hot as the fire itself, with the Fire Brigades Union warning drivers they may be risking their lives by using the service when it reopens— probably in mid-Juneand Eurotunnel insisting that, with the measures it has proposed, the risk is minimal.
And it's also become clear that while the trapped drivers swear they will Firefighters have criticised the laticework freight wagons never venture into the tunused to carry HGVs through the Channel Tunnel.
nel again, many haulage firms are anxiously awaiting the reopening of the commercial service. The row centres on the controversial lattice-work de)ign of the freight wagons which carry LGVs. Eurotunnel is adamant that the so-called "blow-toi ch effect"— where the open-sided design fans the flames of a fire—does not exist.
But there have been long-running fears Eurotunnel, which favoured the ope sided wagons because they were light and therefore cheaper to run, was order by the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority phase them out by March 1994. But after intensive lobbying, the autho ty backed down and granted Eurotunnel full operating licence. The controversy over design has blo AI dismisses claims that the cost would be prohibitive.
Assistant general-secretary Mike Fordham says: "I don't believe it is beyond the wit of man to design a light material; that would not increase the weight. We don't need a very robust skin on the wagon."
In its defence, Eurotunnel insists the package of measures it has suggested is more than adequate. These include: • scrapping the policy of making a burning train continue its journey to the other end of the tunnel—where firefighters would be on hand to tackle the blaze. Instead, it will stop in the Tunnel— as happened in November—and passengers will be evacuated; • more systematic checks on trucks at the time of loading and crew members will monitor each departing shuttle closely; • new fire control systems—with their own water supply—will be installed and an electronic mapping device will show operational staff exactly where the train has stopped in the tunnel; and other measures including increased manning levels at the railway control centre, better training for staff and the fitting of smoke hoods in dub cars.
Open-sided
A Eurotunnel spokesman said: "Studies have been done to show that when a train is moving and you have got opensided wagons then the fire is actually suppressed.
"The chief fire officer of Kent Fire Brigade sits on the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority, which gave its approval to the semi open design."
The company's perceived failure to address the design issue angered the FBU. But the real question is will it appease the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority, which is due to announce the results of its own investigation within the next few weeks. It has the power to order Eurotunnel to make changes.
After losing six months of valuable revenue, Le Shuttle bosses will be desperate to get back to business. And it seems unlikely that many hauliers will heed the FBU's advice to boycott the service, although some say they will respect their drivers' wishes.
Jonathan Jempson, of East Sussex-based John Jempson, believes the whole episode has been "blown out of all proportion" and should be viewed in the context of the many risks drivers face. "I would use it if I was a driver. After all nobody was killed. I would rather go through the tunnel with a lattice-work design wagon than drive on the M25 in fog. Its nowhere near as dangerous."
Colin McKay of haulier Fast Forward in Sittingbourne, Kent, believes the industry—including drivers—has to face up to the fact that no form of travel is entirely safe.
"I don't think redesigning the wagons was likely to help in any way. And I would not hesitate to use it again once it is up and running."
Leeds-based firm Connection Freight— which specialises in delivery of urgent packages across Europe—says it is suffering because of recent severe congestion at Dover and the prolonged closure of the tunnel.
But it acknowledges that it has a duty to consider it's drivers' views. Spokesman John Denker says: "If the Tunnel is given the green light then I would have no hesitation in using it—as long as my drivers were happy about it." Insurers appear to be taking a similar stance. Initial fears that the Chunnel blaze would send rates for hauliers into orbit have been allayed—partly because insurers say they could not get away with a hike in premiums just because of a perceived increase in one element of the overall risk .
Bob Lord, from Lloyds insurance syndicate Crowes, says much as it might like to, the insurance industry is in such a competitive state that it would not get away with a big rise. "Any insurer trying to raise rates on one small part of the risk would not stand a chance. There's no point doing it unless everyone else does," he says.
But not everybody will welcome Le Shuttle's return with opens arms. Ian Edwardes is so convinced of the dangers that he has pledged to join French drivers who were also trapped in their threatened blockade of the tunnel if it opens without a change to the wagon design. "If that fire had been at the front of the train there would have been 31 dead drivers. You cannot possibly know what it was like unless you were down there."
1_ by Pat Hagen
DO YOU THINK THE TUNNEL IS SAFE?
"I would use it if I was driving. I think the whole thing has been blown out of all proportion." Jonathan Jempson, John Jempson.
"We have commissioned studies that show the semiopen wagon design does not fan the flames of the fire." Spokeswoman for Eurotunnel.
"I would not hesitate to use it again once it is up and running.' Colin McKay, Fast Forward.
"I wish they would run it again soon because of all the congestion at Dover. But I realise we have a responsibility to our driyers."! John Denker, Connection Freight.
"The best thing they can do is seal it up at both ends. I almost lost my life in there." Trapped driver Wilson Mewhinney, Ballyclare, Co Antrim TACKLING THE DANGERS How Eurotunnel says it will address safety fears SHOULD A BURNING TRAIN CONTINUE ITS JOYP....3FY.' Eurotunnel has scrapped this policy. From now on, trains will be stopped and evacuated.
HOW WILL IT FIGHT FIRE WITHIN THE TUNNEL? Eurotunnel says it will install fire control devices—with their own water supply—inside the tunnel CAN STAFF COPE? Eurotunnel insists there will be better training of operational staff to deal with emergencies HOW WILL THEY KNOW WHERE A BURNING TRAIN IS? Eurotunnel says it plans to install electronic equipment to pinpoint the exact location of a burning train that has stopped in the tunnel WHAT IF SMOKE GETS INTO THE CLUB CAR? Smoke hoods will be installed in club cars to protect truck drivers from smoke damage DOES EUROTUNNEL HAVE ENOUGH STAFF? Manning at the railway control centre will be increased.