Potters Bar: Sabotage row deepens

COMMUTER services resumed through Potters Bar today as fresh concern mounted over the state of the railways. The station and high-speed routes to the North reopened following the crash 10 days ago in which seven people died and 76 were injured, 10 seriously.

Jarvis Rail, meanwhile, the private contractor responsible for the track points judged to be the cause of the derailment of the near 100mph WAGN train from King's Cross, has reiterated its claims that a saboteur with special knowledge of the railways could be responsible.

The company said in a statement to the Stock Exchange that its records showed that maintenance and inspection of the points at Potters Bar were carried out 'in accordance with the regime agreed with Railtrack'. Two teams were involved - specialist signal technicians and patrolmen carrying out weekly inspections - and all those involved were qualified to carry out maintenance on the line.

'They are experienced railwaymen,' it added. The company said the points were last tested on 1 May when a three-man team found that two nuts had become detached. As part of this inspection they 'firmly re-attached' the nuts.

The Jarvis statement added that a routine line inspection took place on 9 May, when patrolmen test points for 'physical integrity'. No maintenance was carried out on this occasion. A Jarvis spokesman said: 'It is our belief that it is too early to judge the ultimate cause of the accident, and that sabotage cannot be discounted.' Jarvis says it has sent its 'evidence' of the sabotage claim to the Health and Safety Executive, which is investigating the crash.

The evidence centres on a claim by a metallurgist who studied photographs of the bolts from which nuts were found missing at Potters Bar. However, rail industry experts have said the chances vandalism was to blame were 'less than 1%' and Railtrack said it was confident that a 'unique set of circumstances' had caused the crash.

Mick Rix, general secretary of Aslef, the train drivers' union, said: 'Jarvis are jumping the gun on the industry's own internal investigation into this accident for commercial considerations. Speculation from the company has more to do with propping up its share price than getting at the truth.' Jarvis shares, worth more than 500p before the crash, tumbled another 13 1/2p to to 371p.

Health and Safety inspectors are reported to be unconvinced by suggestions from Jarvis that the train derailed as a result of sabotage. Official investigators say while they have not ruled out vandalism or deliberate damage they have no evidence to support the claim and do not believe sabotage is responsible.

But former Tory transport minister Steven Norris, now a non-executive director of Jarvis, defended the claims. Norris said: 'Those people have not seen the evidence which we have. This is not just my credibility but the credibility of a great many business people which is on the line. There is a serious possibility that sabotage is to blame.'

Railtrack reopened the two fast and two slow lines at Potters Bar - but with speed restrictions that will delay commuters for the next few days. Trains using the two fast lines have been ordered to slow from maximum speeds of 115mph and 105mph to 20mph. One of the two slow lines serving local stopping trains has also had its 75mph limit reduced to 20mph - the other remains unaffected.

A Railtrack spokesman said the rail bridge damaged in the derailment has not been fully restored and is being held in place by 'temporary props' while a new section is built. The points which caused the disaster have also not been replaced. Instead straight sections of line have been installed to allow the tracks to reopen. Railtrack say the points have to be specially made for the junction.

Meanwhile an inspection of a 10-mile stretch of the Liverpool Street to Colchester line, for which Balfour Beatty is the private contractor responsible, has revealed an alleged catalogue of faults.