Jarvis accepts blame for Potters Bar

13 April 2012

RAIL infrastructure company Network Rail and rail maintenance company Jarvis today announced they had accepted liability on behalf of the rail industry for claims brought over the Potters Bar crash.

Faulty points near Potters Bar station in Hertfordshire caused a passenger train to derail in May 2002, claiming seven lives.

Jarvis said at the time that vandalism could have been to blame, but subsequent accident reports found no evidence of this.

Network Rail (NR) said today: 'Just a few months after the accident, the industry parties announced that Railtrack (now Network Rail) would take the lead in settling claims and that all legally justified claims would be handled as if liability had been accepted.

'This was to ensure that the issue of liability did not stand in the way of settling claims or cause unnecessary distress to those involved whilst the accident remained under investigation. Network Rail and Jarvis have now agreed that they should formally accept liability on behalf of the industry for claims brought by the bereaved and injured despite the continuing investigations into the root cause of the accident.

'Network Rail and Jarvis hope that by formalising the liability issue, those affected by the tragedy will gain some level of comfort and assistance.In the meantime, the industry parties will continue to work with the Health and Safety Executive as its investigation continues.'

A report from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in May last year said poor maintenance led to the points failure which caused the crash.

Loose nuts on the points led to the failure which resulted in the derailment of a West Anglia Great Northern train travelling from London to Kings Lynn to derail at lunchtime on May 10, 2002.

The section of the track was the responsibility of rail maintenance company Jarvis, which announced eight days after the accident that sabotage could not be ruled out.

But the HSE report said there was no evidence of sabotage or deliberate unauthorised interference with the points.

In March this year British Transport Police (BTP) said it would no longer be leading the investigation into the crash, making it less likely that there will be criminal prosecutions.

The HSE is now leading the investigation and could still bring charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Earlier this month Thames Trains was fined a record £2 million after admitting health and safety offences over the 1999 Paddington rail disaster which claimed 31 lives.

The HSE successfully brought health and safety charges against the Great Western train company which was fined £1.5 million over the 1997 Southall rail crash in west London in which seven people were killed.

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