They planned to row to the volcanic Reunion Island, a French territory east of Madagascar.Mr Chalk said, in what seems, with hindsight, to be a sadly prophetic statement: “I’m not sure why it’s only been rowed once before but I’m sure we’ll find out when we are out there.”Despite their ordeal, the two men were in good health yesterday and due to return to London within a week.Kenneth Crutchlow, executive director of the Ocean Rowing Society, said: “To put this rowing trip together would have cost about £100,000. There were a couple of occasions last night I thought this is it but, you know, I’m glad to be here now.”Recalling their ordeal, Mr Chalk added: “I was scrambling back up and he was scrambling, and we were helping each other to stay awake and keep with it really.”Mr Chalk, 30, and Mr Greaves, 41, from Newton Abbot in Devon, had left from Kalbarri in Western Australia in an attempt to beat the 64-day record set in 1971 by Sweden’s Anders Svedlund. An air force helicopter then transferred them to Geraldton, north of Perth.Mr Greaves, a former Grenadier Guard, said: “I’m glad to be alive. We knew there were dangers of sharks, as well as hypothermia.

The hatches were closed and the boat did not self-right,” said Mr Chalk, one of the duo who were attempting to make a record-breaking crossing of the Indian Ocean “We were under the boat and bleeding. It was bound for Leeds and carrying at least 100 passengers.. The first passenger train since the crash happened passed through Potters Bar station last night. He said there was a “less than one per cent chance” of sabotage.Mr Rayner said: “The points are in a situation where they can be seen from the platform, there’s probably CCTV and it’s a very dangerous place to try to tamper with them.He added: “My opinion is that it was a tragic accident caused by staff being less well skilled, less well certificated and less well supervised than in the BR days.”The share price of Jarvis, which could face multimillion-pound claims for damages if its maintenance workers are found to be at fault, has fallen by about a quarter since the crash.Services on the east coast main linewill return to normal this week. A senior HSE investigator said: “We will carry out more tests over the next two weeks but the first indications are that sabotage played no role in the Potters Bar disaster.”The points were removed from the crash scene last week for testing at an HSE laboratory in Buxton, Derbyshire. Radical plans to create a new rail accident investigation unit to improve safety on Britain’s railways are to be published by the Government this summer.
Stephen Byers, the Secretary of State for Transport, will bring forward plansto enact the key proposals of the Cullen inquiry into the Paddington rail disaster, The Independent has learnt. Under the proposals, contained in a consultation document to be published during this parliamentary session, a Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) will be set up.The RAIB would be similar to the Air Accident Investigation Branch and would have power to criticise the Health and Safety Executive, which currently leads crash inquiries.The RAIB, part of the Department for Transport, would attempt to find out of the cause of incidents but have no duty to bring prosecutions.

“Building a network of supermotorways across the countryside would be an environmental disaster.”Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat transport spokes-man, said: “It would be crazy to build more roads, an approach that all the evidence shows creates more traffic, without first addressing the urgent need to make significant improvements to public transport.”. “This plan seems to have come from the same John Birt patch of blue sky that brought so much harm to the BBC,” he said. Mr King said a recent report by the foundation showed that creating a special road network would cost up to £750bn over the next 50 years and would be logistically and environmentally difficult.Last week a survey for the RAC Foundation showed three-quarters of drivers would support tolls if they were combined with road improvements.Downing Street said the peer’s advice to the Prime Minister was confidential and stressed Government policy was set out in the ten-year transport plan.Tony Juniper, policy director at Friends of the Earth, called on the Government to “reject this nonsense immediately”. He revealed yesterday that he had suggested a similar network to Mr Blair earlier this year. It’s all too easy to leave items unsecured in gardens where thieves can make relatively easy entrances and exits.”One family insured by Sainsbury’s Bank had their entire garden stolen, including their lawn and pond.

But you can take steps to minimise the risk of thieves targeting your garden, principally by ensuring that you leave as little as possible outside. “We advise everyone to lock away as much as possible in a properly secured shed, or bring it inside. If you can’t arrange this, it’s worth taking out a policy specifically for your garden.”Many people underestimate the value of their belong-ings, especially lawn mowers, children’s toys, barbecues, decorative ornaments and power tools,” says Peter Graham, chief executive of Esure. Most insurers will extend cover, although your premium will increase accordingly. Norwich Union’s broker product, called Home Plus, has a £1,000 limit.In addition, Eagle Star’s contents policy includes a further £750 for plants and trees, while More Th>n provides £1,000 for garden plants.It is important to work out the value of the items in your garden, as you may find that you need more cover than you get automatically.