Potters Bar crash caused by points failure, inquest jury decides

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

A video news report, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

A points failure caused the Potters Bar train crash which killed seven people, an inquest jury has decided.

It said the points were in an unsafe condition and there had been failures to either inspect or maintain them.

The train hit faulty points south of Potters Bar station in Hertfordshire on 10 May 2002, injuring more than 70.

[JayMac]

Also from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) (30/07/2010)

The unsung heroes of Potters Bar

The devastation caused when the last carriage of the 1245 from Kings Cross flew off the rails at Potters Bar in 2002 went far beyond the twisted metal and shattered concrete of the station.

The families of the seven people killed on 10 May that year still live with the pain of losing their loved ones in the crash - and the two-month inquest into their deaths has been, as one relative put it, "like picking at an old scab".

Yet, the impact of the accident may well have been far worse, had it not been for a number of ordinary people who did a number of extraordinary things that day.

continues....

The article in full can be found here.

[Chris from Nailsea]

A video report, from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Potters Bar rail crash firms face prosecution

Network Rail and maintenance company Jarvis Rail are to be prosecuted over the 2002 Potters Bar crash, the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about)) has said.

Six people died on a London to King's Lynn train which derailed after a points failure on 10 May 2002. A pedestrian was also killed.

A Health and Safety Executive report said poor maintenance was to blame.

[JayMac]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Potters Bar crash: Network Rail to plead guilty

Network Rail has admitted health and safety failings over the 2002 Potters Bar crash, in which seven people died.

The company has said it will plead guilty to charges which were brought over the condition of tracks near the station in Hertfordshire.

Six passengers and a pedestrian were killed when a train from London to King's Lynn derailed on 10 May 2002.

An inquest last year concluded that a points failure was to blame. The company will be sentenced next month.

Peter Palfrey, chair of the bench at Watford Magistrates' Court, said: "In this case we have decided that the charge is so serious we cannot give punishment at this court."

Speaking outside the court, a Network Rail spokeswoman said the firm was pleading guilty because it had assumed all of Railtrack's responsibilities and liabilities when it took over the company in October 2002.

But she insisted that travelling by train was now safer than ever: "The railway today is almost unrecognisable since the days of Railtrack and the Potters Bar tragedy. All of the recommendations made by both the industry's own formal inquiry and the health and safety investigation have been carried out."

Six passengers - Austen Kark, Emma Knights, Alexander Ogunwusi, Jonael Schickler, Chia Hsin Lin and Chia Chin Wu - were killed in the crash.

The seventh victim, Agnes Quinlivan, was walking nearby and died after she was hit by debris.

More than 70 people were injured.

The Office of Rail Regulation launched proceedings over alleged breaches of health and safety law after the inquest into the crash last year.

Louise Christian, a solicitor representing some of the victim's families, said there was anger that the process had taken so long.

She expressed concern whether today's events would make a real difference. "The families had to go though an awful ordeal, and what still worries them is whether the safety concerns have been properly addressed for the future," she said. "This is now a prosecution that can only result in a fine. There's a query whether that will bring about any real accountability, given that Network Rail is a not for profit company."

The Office of Rail Regulation said it was now considering whether it was in the public interest to continue prosecutions against Jarvis, the maintenance firm responsible for the tracks at Potters Bar.

Jarvis was due in court today facing a health and safety charge, but it was not represented when Network Rail entered its intended plea.

There will be another hearing on March 21.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From The Guardian:

Jarvis to escape prosecution over Potters Bar crash

Lawyer for relatives of victims condemns 'farce' as rail regulator looks set to drop criminal case against maintenance firm

Jarvis will escape prosecution for the fatal Potters Bar train crash after the rail regulator is understood to have dropped criminal proceedings against the maintenance firm.

A lawyer representing families bereaved in the accident slammed the nine-year quest for justice as a "farce", particularly as the taxpayer is instead likely to underwrite a looming six-figure fine for Network Rail over its liability for the incident.

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR^» (Office of Rail and Road formerly Office of Rail Regulation - about)) is preparing to announce that it will not seek a prosecution over the derailment of a train outside Potters Bar station, Hertfordshire, on 10 May 2002 in which seven people died.

Louise Christian, a solicitor who represented families at the inquest into the deaths, said: "There is a huge problem every time we have one of these health and safety disasters. There is no accountability and the prosecutions they bring are a bit of a farce."

A tragic bookend to the Railtrack era that ushered in rail privatisation, the circumstances of the Potters Bar crash highlighted severe strains in the rail industry. Jarvis was contracted by Railtrack to maintain the line but attempted to blame the crash on a saboteur with "informed" engineering knowledge. The company later withdrew the claim in a humiliating apology and admitted joint liability for the crash.

Six passengers on the West Anglia Great Northern train ^ Austen Kark, Emma Knights, Jonael Schickler, Alexander Ogunwusi, Chia Hsin Lin and Chia Chin Wu ^ were killed in the accident. A passerby, Agnes Quinlivan, died after she was hit by falling debris.

It is understood that Jarvis's financial problems contributed to the ORR's decision, which it reached after consultation with the victims' families, who have already seen the prospects of criminal proceedings against former Jarvis or Railtrack executive disappear.

Jarvis's rail division is in administration and its administrators have not participated in proceedings, adding further complications to a prosecution under the Health and Safety At Work Act that could only result in a fine against the company.

Perdita Kark, whose father Austen was killed and whose mother, the novelist Nina Bawden, was seriously injured in the derailment, urged the industry to tighten safety standards after a coroner at the Potters Bar inquest warned that passengers still faced safety risks.

"The gut instinct is that one wanted Jarvis in the dock along with Railtrack but in the end you just want to make sure that this sort of thing does not happen again because they have learned something from it. It is disappointing but I don't see how you can bring into court something that does not exist anymore."

Last month Network Rail told Watford magistrates court that it would plead guilty to track safety failings that caused the derailment. Network Rail admitted failings over the installation, maintenance and inspection of stretcher bars, which hold rails apart at the correct width for train wheels.

The owner of Britain's tracks and stations inherited the liability for Potters Bar after it replaced Railtrack months after the crash and it will be sentenced at St Albans crown court on 30 March.

Sentencing guidelines state that a fatal breach of health and safety laws carries a fine of at least ^100,000 but the punishment will be underwritten by the state, which put ^3.7bn into Network Rail last year and is its main source of funding.

After entering its guilty plea Network Rail said the rail system had improved considerably since the crash, with the last fatal accident due to infrastructure problems occurring in 2007 when a Virgin Trains Pendolino derailed at Graygrigg, claiming the life of one passenger.

"The railway today is almost unrecognisable since the days of Railtrack and the Potters Bar tragedy of 2002," said Network Rail.

The government has ruled out a joint public inquiry into Potters Bar and the Graygrigg crash, saying public interest would be "best served" with separate independent inquests into the disasters. The ORR declined to comment.

[eightf48544]

The thing that still puzzles me about Potters bar is how did the points get so out of alingement whilst still maintaining detection.

We have enough trouble adjusting a motor operated set of points on a private railway to get detection both ways normaly, let alone when they grossly out of alignment. Normally it is only an 1/8 of an inch or less in the movement of the detector bar which results in failure. 

Remember a S&T^▸ (Signalling and Telegraph) technian demonstrating a set of air operated points at Manchester London Road. His boast was they could adjust them so that if a cigarette paper was put between the moving blade and stock, rail detection would fail.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the Guardian:

Network Rail facing huge fine over Potters Bar crash
^ Track operator prepares to enter formal guilty plea in criminal case
^ Contractor Jarvis is in administration and has not been prosecuted

Network Rail could be hit with a multimillion-pound fine over the fatal Potters Bar crash as it prepares to enter a formal guilty plea in a criminal case related to the accident this week.

The owner of Britain's rail tracks and stations is pleading guilty to safety lapses in the run-up to the 2002 crash after inheriting the liability from Railtrack, the privatised business that ran the rail system at the time. Network Rail could be sentenced as soon as Wednesday when lawyers enter a formal plea at St Albans crown court.

The government-backed company is expected to argue in mitigation that the engineering group Jarvis was in charge of maintaining the set of points that derailed a West Anglia Great Northern train outside Potters Bar station, Hertfordshire, on 10 May 2002, killing six passengers and one passerby.

Nonetheless, Network Rail has been told by legal advisers to expect a fine that could run into seven figures, based on the ^3.5m fine imposed on Network Rail ^ also in Railtrack's stead ^ for the 2000 Hatfield crash that killed four people and left 102 injured. Balfour Beatty, the contractor responsible for maintaining a section of track that broke at Hatfield, saw its initial ^10m fine reduced to ^7.5m.

Because of Network Rail's extensive mitigation plea, the judge could take some months to hand down a formal sentence. However, a large fine is likely to renew complaints from victims' families over true accountability for the crash, because Network Rail is largely funded by the taxpayer and received a ^3.7bn annual government grant last year. Its other source of income is ^2bn a year in track usage fees, to which the farepayer is a significant contributor.

Louise Christian, a lawyer who represented victims' families at the Potters Bar inquest, has labelled the legal situation a "farce", with the state effectively underwriting any punishment under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Jarvis has escaped prosecution for its role in the Potters Bar crash because it is in administration and its administrators have declined to take part in proceedings. After consultation with victims' families, the Office of Rail Regulation, the industry's safety watchdog, decided not to push ahead with a prosecution of Jarvis this month. Six passengers on the train ^ Austen Kark, Emma Knights, Jonael Schickler, Alexander Ogunwusi, Chia Hsin Lin and Chia Chin Wu ^ were killed in the accident. A pedestrian, Agnes Quinlivan, died after she was hit by falling debris.

A Network Rail spokesman said that the railway was now "almost unrecognisable" since the company took over Railtrack's responsibilities in October 2002, later bringing all maintenance work in-house. The last serious accident involving a passenger service was at Grayrigg in Cumbria in 2007, when a Virgin Pendolino train derailed, killing one passenger.

[JayMac]

It is a little perverse that Network Rail (and by extension, taxpayers) are likely to be financially punished for something that happened before they even came into being. I appreciate that in the case of Hatfield they were also fined in the stead of Railtrack, but at least in that case the contractor, Balfour Beatty, was also fined.

A fine should, in my opinion, still be imposed on Jarvis, with the call on their remaining assets coming ahead of any payout to creditors or shareholders. If a financial penalty cannot be imposed on Jarvis then the directors in charge at the time of Potter's Bar should be called to account. Maybe with a ban on holding directorships.

[Worcester_Passenger]

Even more perverse when you allow for the fact that Revenue and Customs will be first in the queue of creditors.

[Super Guard]

From BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Network Rail has been fined ^3m for safety failings over the Potters Bar train crash.

The rail infrastructure company admitted breaching safety regulations over the May 2002 crash which claimed seven lives.

Faulty points were to blame for the crash in which a London to King's Lynn service operated by WAGN derailed near Potters Bar station in Hertfordshire.

Following the ruling, Network Rail said it was "truly sorry".

Six passengers and a pedestrian walking near the station were killed.

Full Article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13389147

[Electric train]

Lets hope that the words of Pat and Ann Smith keep ringing in the Governments ears about not putting profit and bonuses first, any break up of NR^» (Network Rail - home page) will lead to this even if the infrastructure control is handed over to the TOC^▸ (Train Operating Company)'s they will want to contract maintenance out and only do the bare minimum