WE must put the Hatfield rail crash into some sort of perspective, and remind ourselves that railways remain by far the safest form of transport.

But we must also put the crash into perspective by pointing out that it is a miracle that no more than four people were killed.

Britain is the fourth richest economy in the world, yet its rail network is shoddy and has been chronically under-funded during years of neglect.

British railways may well be the safest form of transport in the country. But the Hatfield tragedy, coming in the midst of an inquiry into far bigger tragedies at Southall and Ladbroke Grove, clearly demonstrates that they should be made far safer.

There is a crisis of confidence in our railways. It is unlikely public confidence will be restored as long as the firms charged by Government to invest in our railways are also charged by their shareholders to eke out as much money as possible from our railways. There is an urgent need to shake off the growing perception that profit is being put before safety.

The offer of resignation from Railtrack chief executive Gerald Corbett is very noble. There may be calls for John Prescott, who in opposition made political capital out of rail safety but in Government has failed to live up to his promises, to honourably follow suit.

We doubt whether there will be much to be gained from either gesture.

It is not the personalities running our railways who are at fault, but the system in which they have to operate. The system which privatisation left fragmented to the point that there can never be a coherent strategy on investment and safety. The system where firms failing to invest sufficiently are fined, making them even less able to invest.

And crucially, the system which gives overall responsibility for the safety of our railway lines to a private company (Railtrack) under pressure to drain every last drop of profit out of those lines.

The potential for a conflict of interest is self-evident.

In the aftermath of the Ladbroke Grove disaster Mr Prescott promised to remove the health and safety function from Railtrack. He reneged on that promise.

We urge him not to make the same mistake again.