Jarvis faces Potters Bar prosecution
JARVIS Rail is to face prosecution for alleged breaches of health and safety law in connection with the 2002 train crash at Potters Bar.
The York-based firm, which has been in administration since March, is being prosecuted in connection with alleged failings as the contractor responsible for maintenance of the track where the crash happened.
Network Rail Infrastructure is also being prosecuted for its alleged failure to properly oversee Jarvis’s work on the line.
The crash involving a West Anglia Great Northern Train in May 2002 claimed the lives of seven people and injuries to many more.
Ian Prosser, director of rail safety at ORR said: “The conclusion of the recent inquest into the derailment at Potters Bar has allowed the regulator to make a decision on whether any enforcement action should be brought in relation to the incident.
“I have decided there is enough evidence, and it is in the public interest, to prosecute Network Rail and Jarvis Rail for serious health and safety breaches. For the sake of the families involved, we will do all we can to ensure the prosecutions proceed as quickly as possible.
“The railway today is as safe as it has ever been, but there can be no room for complacency. Where failings are found those at fault must be held to account – and the entire rail industry must continue to strive for improvements to ensure that public safety is never put at a similar risk again.”
Jarvis administrators Deloitte did not have any comment on ORR’s decision.
In a statement, Network Rail said: ““The railway today is almost unrecognisable since the days of Railtrack and the Potters Bar tragedy of 2002. Private contractors are no longer in control of the day-to-day maintenance of the nation’s rail infrastructure since Network Rail took this entire operation, involving some 15,000 people, in-house in 2004.
“All of the recommendations made by both the industry’s own formal inquiry and the Health and Safety investigation have been carried out. Today the railways are safer than they have ever been, but today our task remains to build on that record and always to learn any lessons we can to make it ever safer for passengers and those who work on the railway.”
