New Clause 5 - Eurotunnel
Railways and Transport Safety Bill
2:30 pm
Mrs Anne McIntosh (Vale of York, Conservative)
I hope that that will be made clear by my speaking to the new clause and the Under-Secretary's response to it. The questions put by the hon. Member for Bath (Mr. Foster) are a helpful contribution.
In moving the new clause, I should admit to an error in respect of
''Part 1 shall not apply to Eurotunnel''.
Of course, I meant the channel tunnel. I refer again to the wide-ranging consultations on the proposals. Members of the Committee may recall that a fire broke out in the channel tunnel in November 1996. The regulator, the Channel Tunnel Safety Authority, carried out the inquiry, and it remains the authority for tunnel accidents or incidents. The new clause attempts to fill a gap in the Bill, which refers neither to the inclusion nor exclusion of the channel tunnel.
It is generally felt that any new investigating body should be equipped with suitably qualified professionals, with appropriate experience to deal with the tunnel. Will the Under-Secretary confirm that the rail accident investigation branch might be involved in the investigation of future accidents in the channel tunnel and that the people conducting the investigation would have the requisite experience?
I anticipate him saying that the RAIB will not have jurisdiction to investigate channel tunnel accidents, simply because no branch in this country could be permitted to carry out investigation of the French half of the system, or have the right to require French nationals to give evidence. The relevant part of the Bill covers properties of the United Kingdom, but could not possibly stretch to properties of another independent sovereign territory.