Network Rail admits failings in crash

Company to be sentenced next month over derailment in 2002 that killed seven people

Network Rail has admitted health and safety failings over the 2002 Potters Bar train crash.

Lawyers for the company, which owns the track and station, told Watford magistrates court it will plead guilty to proceedings brought by the Office of Rail Regulation over the condition of tracks at the disaster site.

Six passengers and a pedestrian were killed when a West Anglia Great Northern express train derailed at a faulty set of points in Hertfordshire on 10 May 2002.

Prashat Popat QC, for Network Rail, said the organisation will plead guilty to failings over the installation, maintenance and inspection of adjustable stretcher bars, which keep the moveable section of a track at the correct width for train wheels.

Peter Palfrey, chair of the bench, sent the case to St Albans crown court for sentencing on 30 March. During a brief hearing, Palfrey said: "The charge is so serious we cannot give punishment at this court."

The regulator launched proceedings under health and safety law after the conclusion of an inquest into the deaths last year. While the maintenance company involved was Jarvis, overall responsibility for the track rested with Railtrack whose functions were taken over by Network Rail in October 2002.

Six passengers Austen Kark, Emma Knights, Jonael Schickler, Alexander Ogunwusi, Chia Hsin Lin and Chia Chin Wu were killed. The seventh victim, Agnes Quinlivan, was walking nearby and died after she was hit by debris.

More than 70 other people were injured when the 12.45pm London King's Cross to King's Lynn service crashed as it reached Potters Bar station, Hertfordshire, where it was not due to stop, at about 1pm. The inquest concluded that a points failure was to blame. The Crown Prosecution Service had ruled out launching criminal proceedings in 2005.

Outside court, Network Rail repeated its intention to plead guilty but said the railways were ! now safe r than ever. "We have indicated a guilty plea today as Network Rail took on all of Railtrack's obligations, responsibilities and liabilities when it took over the company in October 2002, some five months after the accident," a spokeswoman said.

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

"Private contractors are no longer in control of the day-to-day maintenance of the nation's rail infrastructure since Network Rail took this entire operation, involving some 15,000 people, in-house in 2004.

"All of the recommendations made by both the industry's own formal inquiry and the health and safety investigation have been carried out."


guardian.co.uk Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

'Son of star wars' base in Yorkshire finally ready to open

Peace campaigners slam secrecy over $10bn Menwith Hill project that puts UK in line of fire A "star wars" inspired defence shield that will alert the US to the launch of ballistic missiles is expected to be operational from a North Yorkshire airbase before the end of the year. The Space Based Infrared System is seen as the successor to Ronald Reagan's unrealised "star wars" programme, which would have detected Soviet missiles and shot them down using lasers. The new system, which has cost more than $10bn, has taken almost two decades to build and has been subject to numerous delays and cost overruns. The imminent completion of the project at the RAF Menwith Hill base near Harrogate has revived fears that space is in danger of becoming militarised, with Britain in the vanguard. "I find this disturbing to say the least," said a local Labour MP, Fabian Hamilton. "It's as if they are saying this is a place in the US and you are foreigners. But ha
Keep reading

Wisconsin governor prank called

Republican is duped by a caller pretending to be one of the rightwing Koch brothers, two of his wealthiest backers The Republican governor at the centre of the union-busting protests in the US has been embarrassed by a prank call that he believed was from one of his billionaire backers. On the recording of the call, which has been released online, the Republican governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker tells a caller impersonating one of the rightwing Koch brothers that he is looking forward to flying to California to celebrate with them once the battle with the unions was won, and jokes about taking a baseball bat to slug Democratic leaders. Walker is under siege in his office in the state capitol building in Madison, Wisconsin, in a backlash against his proposed legislation to remove unions' right to collective bargaining and cut public sector workers' pay. Ian Murphy, who calls in pretending to be David Koch, suggests planting troublemakers among the protesters, who have been peac
Keep reading

As China Rolls Ahead, Fear Follows

Image
As China Rolls Ahead, Fear Follows - China kept economy growing in past couple of years by printing money. Now it's feeling consequences. Inflation in consumer prices, speculative bubble in property. Milk dearer in Shanghai than in New York Agence France-Presse — Getty Images China is looking to restructure its economy away from dependence on exports like textiles. For nearly two years, China’s turbocharged economy has raced ahead with the aid of a huge government stimulus program and aggressive lending by state-run banks. But a growing number of economists now worry that China — the world’s fastest growing economy and a pillar of strength during the global financial crisis — could be stalled next year by soaring inflation, mounting government debt and asset bubbles. Two credit ratings agencies, Moody’s and Fitch Ratings , say China is still poised for growth, yet they have also recently warned about hidden risks in its banking system. Fitch even hinted at the
Keep reading