THE POTTERS BAR RAIL DISASTER: No need for panic ..but act quickly

THE Potters Bar accident happened just a few miles from Hatfield, scene of another rail disaster which set in motion a panic by Railtrack management.

It resulted in hundreds of speed restrictions, many of which were unnecessary.

We now know that as the train went over the points, they moved, causing the train to derail.

What we must realise is that the points did what they were supposed to do. They were in the right position for the train to go through, then a catastrophic event occurred.

The failure occurred in the nuts holding the points together. We must find out what caused this fracture in the front stretcher bar. That is the key.

What has been so deplorable after Hatfield was the fact that there was no public inquiry and even the health and safety report has not been disclosed. This is not the way to allay fears.

Now, more than ever, Railtrack must be seen to be open. It is essential to hold a public inquiry.

The question that has to be asked is whether there are some design differences in this set of points - or generation of points - that could to blame.

What the inquiry will focus on is the recovered nuts and whether these failed as a result of a one-off fault, or whether there might be a bigger problem with them in general.

The fact that the inspection of the 400 similar points has shown up no problems cannot be taken as conclusive proof that there is not a design fault.

However, the nuts will be the main focus of this investigation to see whether they have fractured.

I return to my main message: Do not panic. Let's not have another lawyer- driven, knee-jerk reaction imposing speed restrictions across the network and panicking everyone into getting into their cars. You will still be at more risk on the roads.

And let's not berate Mr Byers. The plain facts are the industry was broken up in an unmanageable way by the last Tory government. Worse still, when Labour came to power John Prescott and Lord McDonald did nothing about it.

Let us hope now that professionals in Railtrack, uncluttered by the share price, will respond to this tragedy in a calm, dignified and structured way.

Copyright 2002 MGN LTD
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