Rail safety chief executive expected to lose his position

The man responsible for rail safety rules – which today will provoke a second nationwide strike by guards – has in effect been dismissed.

Rod Muttrum was told he would have to reapply for the top job when responsibility for safety of the network was transferred to a new Rail Safety and Standards Board.

But Mr Muttrum, currently chief executive of Railway Safety, a division of the public-backed infrastructure company Network Rail, has failed to win the job despite indications that the process was a formality. Industry observers expect Denis Tunnicliffe, former managing director London Underground, will be appointed to the top post this week.

Officials at the RMT rail union said yesterday Mr Muttrum had allowed the industrial dispute involving train guards to "rumble on'' since 2001.

The union feels that Mr Muttrum should have taken the lead in negotiations over the network's rulebook, which the guards believe has devalued their safety role.

Bob Crow, general secretary of the union, has announced three days of strikes as part of the dispute, with the second 24-hour stoppage due to cause more chaos today.

Disruption will vary at the nine train operating companies involved in the conflict, but on some routes 90 per cent of services will be cut.

Mr Crow said: "There's no doubt Mr Muttrum could have settled this dispute. It is obvious he is being pushed out because he stood up for an independent railway safety system. He is being replaced by the man who was responsible for the disastrous London Underground company plan which cost 6,000 jobs and laid the path towards the public- private partnership.''

Other industry figures did not endorse Mr Crow's qualified support for the Railway Safety chief executive.

One insider said Mr Muttrum, who moved from the Ministry of Defence to the rail industry, had made critical errors on engineering issues and had become unpopular in the industry. His support for stopping trains at red lights – the train protection and warning system – came under fire from parts of the industry.

Mr Muttrum, who was known to have made considerable sums of money after relinquishing shares in rail companies, was thought to have been angered by being told he would have to reapply for his job. Railway Safety refused to comment on the expected appointment.

In a separate development today, Network Rail is likely to put the cost of maintaining Britain's railways over the next three years at almost £19bn.

The not-for-profit company, which took over from Railtrack, is expected to announce plans to spend £6bn a year between 2004 and 2007 compared with the current £5bn a year.

The figures will be contained in a business plan that Network Rail must table to get financial backing from the Government and other sources. John Armitt, the chief executive, is likely to say tomorrow that Britain has an "ageing and fragile network".

¿ A safety investigation has been opened after an engineer working on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link was apparently electrocuted by overhead power cables.

The man, who has not been named, was killed on Friday evening while working on the rail infrastructure for the link a few miles from the tunnel entrance in Folkestone, Kent.