Sabotage has once more been ruled out as the cause of the Potters Bar rail crash, according to the latest Health and Safety Executive (HSE) report into the tragedy.

Jarvis, the sub-contractor employed to maintain the rail network near the crash site, is still claiming that deliberate interference with a set of points close to Potters Bar station was to blame for the crash which killed seven and injured 76 on May 10 last year.

But an independent board set up by the HSE believes the most likely cause of the derailment was the poor condition of the points, which probably arose from the failures of the way the network was managed.

An HSE spokesman said: "The board is satisfied that no evidence has yet been established to support speculation about sabotage or deliberate unauthorised interference, and that an explanation for the failure in points 2182A can be based on the evidence of their poor condition."

Laboratory examinations of the points and the last carriage of the train which derailed onto the station platform are almost complete.

The technical investigation concluded that the failure of the points was also down to four missing nuts on an adjustable stretcher bar. Passenger reports of a rough ride on the track south of Potters Bar the night before the crash were not acted on, the report said.

Inspections of points across the UK's rail network were carried out by Her Majesty's Rail Inspectorate (HMRI) following the crash.

"These inspections revealed examples of failure to apply good engineering practice, and led HMRI to conclude that there may have been a wider problem. The deficiencies were, however, less serious than those at Potters Bar," the HSE spokesman added.

The board found an effective management system had not been in place under Railtrack for maintaining safety critical components, such as points. However, improvements had been made since the creation of Network Rail, it said.

Dr Mike Weightman, chairman of the board, said: "We hope the lessons from the derailment are learnt and the industry moves forward. In making our recommendations, we are not saying the rail network is unsafe, or that the regulatory regime is ineffectual."

Alan Osborne, HSE's director of rail safety, said the report had made eight recommendations for HMRI to implement.

"These range from the agreement with Network Rail for an enhanced preventative maintenance regime, through to assuring the process for the management of contractors, to focusing more of our resources on risks with the potential for catastrophic loss," he said.

May 29, 2003 14:00