Privatisation blamed for Potter's Bar crash

A jury at the inquest into the fatal crash found that the incident had been caused by points failure caused by maintenance failings.

Six passengers were killed in the crash in Hertfordshire on May 10 2002. A seventh victim was walking nearby and died after being struck by debris.

The train was travelling at a legal speed - 98mph - and driver Gordon Gibson was cleared of any blame.

A Network Rail spokesman claimed that all the recommendations made following the crash had been acted upon and that the railways were now safer than ever.

But coroner Judge Michael Findlay Baker QC warned there was a continuing potential risk to rail passengers.

He said he would file a report under Rule 43 expressing concern that circumstances continue to create a risk of other deaths.

He also criticised the length of time families had to wait for the verdict, saying the eight-year wait was "indefensible."

After the inquest, relatives pointed out that the jury was limited in what it could consider and said they wanted a public inquiry.

Agnes Quinlivan's daughter Pat Smith said: "We've listened to a catalogue of inadequacies and shoddy maintenance and shoddy management systems that should have been rectified a long time ago.

"We hope now they will put them right."

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "Basic failures of inspection and of maintenance, driven by the greed and fragmentation of rail privatisation, led us to Potters Bar. Those responsible for creating that lethal culture, the politicians and their business associates, will never share the pain of the victims of their gross mismanagement.

"They have escaped prosecution for their role in this avoidable disaster."

He said cuts being made on the railways "are dragging us back to exactly the same poisonous cocktail of conditions that led to Potters Bar."

Aslef general secretary Keith Norman said: "This terrible incident makes it imperative that we continuously examine the relationship between cuts to maintenance routines that jeopardise safety standards and the vast sums of money taken out of our industry by privatisation.

Aslef members rely on proper maintenance not only for our livelihoods, but for our lives."