UK: Y2K fears spark international transport safety drive

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From ITN Television, Oct 28, 1999:

Y2K fears spark public transport safety drive

With sixty-four days to go until the year 2000 the Government is now confident that Britain can avoid any major Millennium disasters, but it is feared that some cars fitted with smart electronics may break down.

In France, aviation officials have expressed concern about aircraft safety and the Russians say almost a third of their computers may fail.

As ITN's Ian Booth reports, efforts are being made worldwide to ensure public transport will be safe over the Millennium.

The Los Angeles transport system is expecting to cope with thousands of revellers on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

$110 million has been spent on Millennium Bug preparations and the city is convinced things are safe.

But the Millennium Bug is still seen as a potential problem.

The city has an emergency response plan in case things go wrong.

"In terms of our emergency response, our Department of Transportation is a part of our emergency operations organisation, so their contingency planning for everyday emergencies that might come up in the city of LA like floods, fire, earthquakes or something is part of their regular contingency planning, and Y2K is just another event that we planned for from a contingency perspective," Los Angeles Information Technology Officer Frank Martinez told ITN.

In Britain the London Underground has been working for the last three years to ensure its computers are ready.

The Tube traditionally stays open longer than normal on New Year's Eve but this year it plans to run continually for forty-eight hours.

The Tube system was the first underground train system in the world to be built and as a result the use of computers is limited.

"Most of the equipment is in the stations or it's in the area of communications - CCTV equipment, public address radio systems - more the signal service control and passenger information as opposed to the signalling equipment because as much as the signalling equipment is old only a certain percentage of it is computerised anyway," London Transport's Y2K Project Programme Manager John Horan told ITN.

The authorities in Paris have announced the city's public transport network will be free over Millennium night, but while party goers have the opportunity to leave their car at home there is still some public anxiety.

In response the French rail operator SNCF has decided to stop services for twenty minutes from five-to-twelve on December 31st.

"We have decided to put in place a special surveillance system for the network and we've taken a lot of preventative steps concerning the Year 2000 Bug and the existing worries.

"The special surveillance system will ultimately ensure the railway is running safely, but as for the Year 2000 Bug fears could still exist among the public," SNCF spokesman Thierry Mignaw told ITN.

And it is those fears that may make many people stay at home at the New Year.

-- Old Git, who neither negotiates nor converses with forum terrorist-trolls (anon@spamproblems.com), October 29, 1999

Answers

Russia says one third of their computers will fail. Same percentage as U.S.

-- earl (earl.shuholm@worldnet.att.net), October 29, 1999.

Except, unless those computers are in nuclear facilities (of course)!

-- (snowleopard6@webtv.net), October 29, 1999.

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