mr president the appalling train crash near halle was a dreadful tragedy for the victims their families work colleagues and friends
the important thing now is to draw the necessary lessons from this tragedy to avoid future casualties
in this it is crucial that the voice of railway workers is clearly heard and heeded in making rail travel safe for both workers and passengers
it is indeed outrageous to hear a british tory i take it a member of this parliament malign and slander belgian railway workers in the course of his contribution when it is quite clear that the policies of neoliberalisation and deregulation have done enormous damage to our railway system as a public facility
there is in fact enormous frustration among belgian railway workers
this was clear from spontaneous strikes among those workers in the days after this tragedy in response to it
this is the third serious incident in belgium in nine months
after a previous tragedy in belgium in two thousand and one comprehensive safety measures were promised but have not been implemented
the reality is that workers on the belgian railways are under continuous pressure to work longer with journeys being extended and fewer breaks which means less safety
of course the perfidious policy of the eu commission of liberalisation and privatisation will threaten safety further
it means that the profits of major transport companies come first
it is clear that the best structure to guarantee safety is to maintain the rail infrastructure in public ownership with democratic control and necessary investment
