Investigation Launched into Fatal Train Crash

Workers' Daily Internet Edition : Article Index :

Investigation Launched into Fatal Train Crash

Editorial:
Should Not the Government Be Held Responsible?

Statement of Mick Rix, ASLEF General Secretary

Statement from Secretary of State Stephen Byers

Seven people have died after Friday’s fatal train crash at Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, north of London. Ambulance service officials said that 10 more casualties have life-threatening or serious injuries. There are up to 60 walking wounded. The driver of the West Anglia Great Northern train Andy Gibson, from London, was uninjured and said he "felt the train give way from the rear of the train".

An investigation has been launched into what might have caused the crash.

It has emerged that two nuts had been totally unscrewed from track points which maintenance contractors Jarvis Rail had visually inspected the day before. John Armitt, chief executive of Railtrack, said that the nuts on a support rod, which stopped the points from moving, were found lying next to the points by crash investigators. Investigators suspect that the absence of the nuts caused the front part of the points to become stressed and break as the train passed over them.

"We are unclear at this stage why the nuts, which were an integral part of the points, were detached and the investigation will now concentrate on trying to understand this," the Railtrack chief executive said. "It would be inappropriate to speculate why those nuts were detached."

Investigators have ordered a check on all other points across the area as a precautionary measure. Railtrack said it had not encountered any similar incident and would not be imposing speed restrictions across the network.

Jarvis Rail had been criticised in a case at Liverpool Crown Court in 2000, in which two workers were acquitted of manslaughter after the death of a colleague, for the "apparent slackness of Jarvis Rail" in allowing staff without the necessary qualifications to supervise engineering works on the line. In the case, the judge said a works supervisor had made numerous requests for staff to be given the necessary training. "It appears that he had no alternative, in practice, but to turn a blind eye to the fact that people were continuing to perform these functions without the appropriate certificates."

The rail unions have for some time complained to Railtrack that casual labour employed to carry out maintenance are not fully competent to do the work they are being asked to carry out.

Nearly 3,000 companies provide 90,000 workers for the rail network and Railtrack's extensive use of subcontractors, agencies and unregulated "gangers" who provide track workers makes it almost impossible to impose an effective safety regime, according to former Railtrack staff.

Potential maintenance recruits are required to attend a two-day course, organised by individual specialist recruitment agencies, which meets demands set by Railtrack and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). At the end of the course, which includes passing a final exam and medical, recruits are given a Personal Track Safety certificate (PTS).

Often trackside workers operate without certificates and Railtrack has been criticised in the past for its loose supervision of outside contractors carrying out work on the lines.

Yesterday, RMT general secretary Bob Crow called for rail maintenance to be taken back in house. "The time has come to recognise that this is no way to run the railways," he said.

Transport Secretary Stephen Byers, who visited the scene of the crash, said that maintenance had not been affected by Railtrack being in administration. "There is no doubt that the fact that Railtrack is in administration has not affected maintenance and some have said that maintenance has improved in recent months," he said.

Once again a tragic rail crash with loss of life has occurred on British railways. Once again the relevant government minister is offering condolences to the bereaved and injured and promising more investigations. This is the fifth serious rail in as many years and even the chief executives of the train operating companies are now saying that the fragmentation of the rail network cannot be justified and must be considered a contributory factor.

It is clear that the policy of privatisation and the opening up of public services to those whose aim is to make maximum capitalist profit from them stands condemned as unjustifiable. The conclusion must be drawn that the agenda must be ended in favour of a way of running society which favours the people’s interests and puts their concerns at the centre. Should not the government be held responsible for the disasters which flow from the agenda of privatisation and "public-private partnership"? At a time when the anti-social offensive is being stepped up, the prevailing ethos is that people must fend for themselves. The government washes its hands of responsibility for the conduct of society. The situation is getting worse, not better.

The implications of the delivery of public services to private capital are being wilfully ignored by the government. For example, the removed nuts revelation, which came just over 24 hours after the crash, throws a sharp focus on to the maintenance of the railway line by the engineering contractor Jarvis and on the supervision of contractors by Railtrack since it was taken into administration. Yet the first thing that Stephen Byers wanted to stress was that this was not a factor.

After the Hatfield crash in 2000, in which four people died, Jarvis took over the maintenance contract from Balfour Beatty in a five-year deal signed in April 2001. Jarvis also maintains lines throughout Britain and is part of the bid for the London underground privatisation. It has constantly been criticised for using temporary agency workers to inspect and maintain railway lines in Scotland.

The issue facing society is how the people’s interests can be safeguarded. The government is trying to put the focus elsewhere and abandon all social responsibility. In its programme of "investment with reform" of public services, the "reform" part of the equation is precisely to escape responsibility for ensuring the future of social programmes which serve the national interest. The programme of the working class entails that things must be turned around by not only putting the needs of the people in command, but to put them at the centre of decision-making so that whether "public" or "private", the economy, the infrastructure and all social programmes are not dictated by the needs of private capital.

General Secretary of ASLEF, Mick Rix, made the following statement regarding the tragic accident on May 10:

"This is a terrible tragedy for all those involved, in particular the injured and the families of those who have died to whom we send our deepest sympathy, and for the railway industry as a whole.

"ASLEF would like to express its pride in the actions of driver Andy Gibson, who was able to secure the front and back of the train and assist passengers from the site of the accident. He has conducted himself with exemplary professionalism.

"Any further comment concerning this awful accident must of course await clarification as to its causes."

Stephen Byers, Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, made the following statement on 10 May 2002

All of our thoughts must be with the families and friends of those who have been killed or injured today in this tragic accident.

The emergency services are doing a marvellous job and they must be allowed to complete their work. In addition, the safety investigators from the Health and Safety Executive and representatives of both Railtrack and the train company are all now at the scene.

The Health and Safety Executive will now be undertaking an investigation into this accident. I have asked for them to let me have their preliminary findings as soon as they possibly can.