Did workmen forget to fix rail disaster points?
Shoddy maintenance emerged last night as the most likely cause of the Potters Bar train disaster which claimed seven lives. Rail bosses revealed that a pair of nuts on the points which caused the crash were spotted lying beside the track during an inspection on May 1 – nine days before Friday’s fatal derailment. Workmen were said to have replaced them. It then emerged that these nuts, plus two more, were found – after the crash – to be detached from their bolts and lying loose. Rail investigators said yesterday they had all but ruled out other possible causes for the disaster with ‘no evidence’ of vandalism, faults connected to the signals or the way the train was driven. So the mounting evidence pointing towards a catastrophic maintenance failure puts in the dock Railtrack, its contractor Jarvis and Transport Secretary Stephen Byers – who claimed the crash was a ‘one-off’. Investigators are systematically checking paperwork and scientifically examining the mechanical evidence to disco
