TRAIN DRIVERS 'NEED DRUG BREAKS'

Train drivers need more free time so they can take recreational drugs
without endangering passengers' lives, according to a rail union leader.

The controversial call was made by Mick Rix, general secretary of
Aslef, who said train drivers are not allowed enough time to get over
the effects of drugs.

In a statement that will horrify survivors of recent rail disasters,
Rix told The Observer his union was campaigning for drivers to have
'blocks of successive days away from the job'.

'We have to anticipate the situation where we are going to get train
drivers that also want to take drugs,' he said. 'We have to try to get
sufficient time off so that if a driver does indulge in recreational
drugs he does it without impacting upon work.'

He wants drivers to have, as part of normal rostering, 'discrete
blocks of time that they can keep to themselves and the family so that
they can go out for a drink as a normal human being', adding some
drivers would want to take drugs, 'as the use of recreational drugs
becomes more widespread'.

And in a remark set to cause further controversy, Rix appeared to link
potential drug use with drivers from ethnic minority backgrounds.
'Some people from ethnic minorities tend to prefer drugs; some of them
do not drink at all; it's their relaxation. And if we get an increase
in the number of ethnic minority drivers, we have to accept that
that's part of their culture,' he said.

Rix said driver numbers were so stretched across the country that many
ended up working 12 days in a row, 'suffering from extreme fatigue'
and being deprived of a 'normal' social life.

But safety officials and crash survivors condemned any moves that
might encourage drivers to use illegal drugs at any time. Simon
Cheeseman, 39, a businessman who crawled unhurt but traumatised from
the Paddington crash that killed 31 last October, said: 'You cannot
play Russian roulette with people's lives. Being under the influence
of drugs, especially when you are talking about driving a train with
hundreds of lives at risk, is not on.'

There is no suggestion that drugs or alcohol played any part in the
Paddington disaster. But the Cannon Street crash, which killed two and
left more than 540 injured in 1991, happened when a London commuter
train was driven into buffers by a driver who had been using cannabis.

Legislation was tightened after that and drivers are now screened at
random for traces of intoxicants and are tested after any incident.
They can also be tested when turning up for work if there is suspicion
they may be unfit for duty.