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From The Times
September 5, 2007

Fault with points missed days before fatal crash

Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent

Network Rail staff “falsified” maintenance records and ignored basic safety rules in the weeks before a train derailment that killed one passenger and injured 22.

An investigation by the infrastructure company found that five days before the Virgin train crashed at 95mph in Cumbria on February 23, a track worker had failed to complete a weekly inspection of a set of points that would have showed that crucial parts were broken. Previous inspections had been poorly executed, and managers had failed to take action despite clear indications that safety was being compromised in the area.

The speed of the line had been increased a year earlier, resulting in greater stress on the track and much less opportunity for inspections. Workers were encouraged to rush their checks, and ten different people had carried them out in the previous four months, meaning that there was no chance for staff to become familiar with the condition of the track.

Managers were so keen to meet performance targets that they failed to check whether inspections were being carried out properly.

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The Network Rail report disclosed that loose bolts were found on the points at Grayrigg more than six weeks before the crash. They were replaced, but the cause of the problem was never investigated.

Peter Henderson, Network Rail’s group infrastructure director, said that he did not know why the check on February 18 had not been completed.

Mr Henderson added that the inspector started at the right place, “but he came off at an access point just before [the points]”.

A British Transport Police investigation into the crash is continuing and criminal charges have not been ruled out. Since the accidents all points on the network have been checked.