Poor maintenance has been pinpointed as a factor in the Potters Bar rail crash, in a report released today.
The crash, which killed seven people and injured 67 others, happened when a express train carriage derailed and crashed into Potters Bar station, Hertfordshire, in May last year.
An interim report by a board appointed by the Health and Safety Executive says the most likely cause of the derailment was the poor condition of points on tracks, which were not maintained properly.
This maintenance and adjustment problems were probably a result of "failures of management systems", an HSE statement said.
"The Board is satisfied that no evidence has yet been established to support speculation about sabotage or deliberate unauthorized interference."
This is a direct rejection of claims by Jarvis, the firm responsible for line maintenance at Potters Bar, that the tracks had been sabotaged.
May 29, 2003 12:00
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