TRAGIC accidents tend to provide the sharpest spur to action. The
Kitzsteinhorn disaster last November, in which a train caught fire in a tunnel
on its way to the ski slopes, is one such horrific example
(New Scientist, 18 November 2000, p 4).
It led me to ask Keith Hill, the junior minister responsible for the railways,
what safety procedures Britain has in place should a tunnel fire occur here.
Hill replied that the best way to stop a fire spreading is to prevent it from
starting in the first place, or to make sure that there is so…
