FirstGroup fears over rail crash

FIRSTGROUP today warned that the Potters Bar crash could bring a halt to the recovery on the railways after the months of chaos that followed the Hatfield derailment in 2000.

As investigators continued to pore over the causes and potential ramifications of Friday's derailment, which killed seven people and injured dozens, FirstGroup chief executive Moir Lockhead said: 'Although total passenger volumes have returned to pre-Hatfield levels, it is too early to say when the rates of passenger growth will fully recover, particularly in the light of the Potters Bar accident.'

Underlying profits at FirstGroup, which is also Britain's biggest bus operator and has extensive Yellow Bus and transit bus services in the US, rose 5% to £156m, buoyed by the injection of more taxpayer subsidies to underwrite its lossmaking First North Western train services. The dividend is increased by 10% to 10.3p.