23 April 2002
PTA responds to the ADAC report on the Tyne Tunnel
Councillor Tom Hanson, deputy vice chair of Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority said:
The ADAC report is a vindication of the need for a second vehicle tunnel under the Tyne. The issues of heavy, oncoming traffic and congestion can only be addressed by increasing the capacity of the crossing. A new tunnel will allow traffic to flow in one direction through each tube, thus improving safety at a stroke.
I must emphasise that the Tyne Tunnel is as safe as we can possibly make it and that the safety of our customers and staff is the top priority.
The weaknesses highlighted in the report are to do with infrastructure; the strengths with management. While we are not complacent, we are happy that the Tyne Tunnel is extremely well-managed in the context of the infrastructure constraints which only the new tunnel can resolve.
On the question of fire safety, the PTA, the Tyne Tunnel management and the emergency services work closely together to ensure that risks are minimised. To a large extent the Tyne Tunnel suffers in this aspect of the report from the recent tragic incidents in Swiss road tunnels where there is no on-site management and therefore response times are much longer. At the Tyne Tunnel, there is on-site management, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, able to deal with emergencies that arise.
With regard to emergency telephone soundproofing, we deem this potentially hazardous as the hoods would inhibit speedy evacuation along the walkways in the event of an emergency.
The Tyne Tunnel has an exemplary safety record because of the speed of its response and the effectiveness of its monitoring. The safety record shows it is safer to travel through the Tyne Tunnel than it is to travel on an average A-class road in Britain.
The results of the ADAC report are not unexpected, and we accept the findings. We were happy to co-operate with the inspectors, although we were not obliged to, in the knowledge that compared to more modern tunnels the Tyne Tunnel would be judged as poor in safety terms.
Indeed, we will soon extend an invitation to the German inspection company that conducted the ADAC survey to undertake a risk assessment of the Tyne Tunnel incorporating the New Tyne Crossing.
Issued
on behalf of Tyne and Wear Passenger Transport Authority by Bradley O'Mahoney
Public Relations Contact Richard Simpson on 0191 281 8833 or Iris Boyd on
0191 211 5071