News Forum Phone database

> New Topic
> Reply
< Esato Forum Index > General discussions > Non mobile discussion > what do YOU think should be done to improve the British rail system? Bookmark topic

Crash experts focus on maintenance


The derailed carriage was lifted clear on Tuesday

The rail maintenance record for the track near Potters Bar is being examined after it was confirmed rail nuts were loose nine days before the fatal rail crash.
The Health and Safety Executive has released an interim report confirming that missing nuts in a set of points probably caused the derailment, which killed seven and injured 76.

Rail maintenance contractor Jarvis said the nuts were found detached and screwed back in place during a routine check on 1 May.

A further visual check on 9 May apparently found nothing wrong.

But the HSE said the nuts were off again by 10 May, causing the points to break and the train, in turn, to derail.



The HSE wants to establish why the nuts were missing


Points are held in place by 'stretcher bars'
Each bar held by four anti-vibration nuts
Why were nuts missing at Potters Bar?
Click here to find out more about the Potters Bar points and how they should work




The HSE said the Jarvis revelation was "very significant" and that it was examining all four detached nuts in its laboratory. It said British Transport Police were also examining some components.

On Tuesday afternoon the train carriage wedged beneath a platform roof at Potters Bar station was lifted clear by crane.

It was placed on a specialist lorry, where it will be searched by police and the HSE, before being handed back to operator WAGN.

Work is continuing to remove a 45-metre section of railway track and points nearby, which will also be taken to an HSE laboratory.

Railtrack said it hoped to have services running through the station again by Monday of next week.

'Basic error'

As rail critics began to blame maintenance errors for the accident, the HSE said all the maintenance records of the area over the last 12 months would be thoroughly examined.



These nuts have never, ever come off except to have been manually removed

Jarvis
Frank Hyland, who is managing the HSE's investigation, said: "The question is 'why did we find nuts missing or not in position?'.

"We shall be working with British Transport Police to build up a detailed history of all the points in the area."

He would not comment further on the state or position of the nuts.

A Jarvis spokesman said: "These nuts have never, ever been discovered to have fallen off.

"They have never, ever come off except to have been manually removed."

Jarvis and Railtrack both said they had not ruled out sabotage.

Later Transport Secretary Stephen Byers released a letter from Jarvis which said: "The nuts were refitted and retightened in accordance with good industry practice."

A former rail engineer who did not want to be named told BBC News there was a "lack of knowledge" in all aspects of track maintenance work.

And rail expert Christian Wolmar blamed the accident on "a basic error".

Contracting-out

In a separate development, it emerged on Tuesday that vandals tried to derail a passenger train 24 hours after the Potters Bar disaster by putting football goalposts across a track near Oxford.


The HSE said it had found no evidence of vandalism or signal problems at Potters Bar, and that the train was being driven normally.

The report said the train coaches had generally stood up well to the impact, as had the railway bridge and the station buildings.




The investigation has also thrown the spotlight on the culture of contracting out work on the railways.

Prime Minister Tony Blair told BBC's Newsnight "it's going to take a lot of time and money over many years" to get the railways right - but he backed Mr Byers to do it.

Gwyneth Dunwoody, head of the Commons Transport Committee, called for Railtrack to take maintenance back into its own hands and out of that of contractors.

She said: "There is a lot of evidence that people have been taken on when they have not got the proper classifications."

Mick Rix, general secretary of the train drivers' union Aslef, said: "The conduct and culture of infrastructure maintenance should now be reviewed as a matter of the highest priority."

But Dr Allan Sefton, the HSE's acting chief inspector of railways, said: "There is no evidence at the moment that this is a generic problem."



[ This Message was edited by: ejasim on 2002-05-14 18:59 ]
--
Posted: 2002-05-14 19:57:00
Edit : Quote


just unacceptable
--
Posted: 2002-05-14 20:00:00
Edit : Quote


It is.
--
Posted: 2002-05-14 20:17:00
Edit : Quote


scrap it and start again.

fatreg
--
Posted: 2006-05-11 20:17:19
Edit : Quote


I think we have a lot learn from the Japanese and French. They have the fastest and most successful. Britain suffers from an old system which was run into the ground during 1st and 2nd world wars and received minimal investment for 50 years afterwards. I think things are improving though. Safety of course comes first. Hard lessons have been learnt recently. This message was posted from a S700
--
Posted: 2006-05-11 20:59:53
Edit : Quote


introduce hover trains capable of 300mph,
london to manchester in 55 minutes...

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,22749-1500638,00.html


--
Posted: 2006-05-12 01:28:56
Edit : Quote


Jap's BULLET trains are the BEST !
--
Posted: 2006-05-12 02:41:47
Edit : Quote


I like the TGV better.

I travelled on Eurostar to Paris once and it was amazing... It flew along at 186mph (300kph) and the ride was so smooth that most people fell asleep.

They are now going ahead with a new line from Manchester to London which will reach there in 1hr 15 mins.

Link
--
Posted: 2006-05-12 13:30:51
Edit : Quote

---

New Topic   Reply

Forum Index