More misery on Britain's rails

LONDON, England -- Friday's fatal train crash will do little to improve the image of Britain's struggling railways.

The disaster -- the fifth fatal accident on Britain railways in under five years -- is another blow for an industry still struggling to recover from decades of underfunding.

The crash at Potters Bar north of London occurred close to the scene of a train crash at Hatfield in October 2000 which left four dead and led to considerable investment in track improvements over the last 18 months.

As rail inspectors from Britain's Health and Safety Executive were expected on the scene in Potters Bar, one industry observer blamed the crash on the "malaise" affecting the industry since it was privatised in the 1990s.

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Peter Rayner, a former British Rail safety executive and fierce critic of privatisation and rail safety standards, said it was too early to pinpoint the exact cause of the crash.

But he told the British Press Association: "All this is down to the continuing malaise that we have experienced since 1994."

"People should not put this down to Railtrack or the fact that Railtrack is now in administration," Rayner said, referring to the now-insolvent private rail infrastructure operator, which is back in the hands of the government.

"It's more about the problems that have been encountered over the last four or five years."

Richard Hope of Railway Gazette told CNN that while there was "no indication yet that privatisation has been the cause" of the Potters Bar crash, the current setup of the UK railways is problematic. (Full story)

"There is a lot more money going into the railways in Britain, although I have to say that the money is not always being spent wisely, and privatisation five years ago, six years ago, has left us with a very difficult structure to make it work," Hope said.

"There is a problem with the management structure, it's a very fragmented structure. The management of the track and signals and so on are in the hands of one company. Other companies run their trains and have no control over the track.

"That's not the way railways have been run throughout the first 160 years of their history throughout the world. We're learning some painful lessons of the disadvantages of that at the moment."

'We feel we have been let down'

John Biggs, chairman of the London Assembly's Transport Committee, said:

The Hatfield crash in October 2000 left four dead and prompted a massive overhaul of the rail infrastructure

"It is, of course, too early to say what caused the crash. But public safety can never be compromised which means we must always ensure that there is proper investment in the railways.

"If the accident is linked to the failings of the rail industry, then questions should be asked at the highest level about how such a dreadful tragedy has happened."

Jenny Kennedy, a solicitor acting for the injured and bereaved in the Hatfield crash, said she was disappointed to hear of the tragedy.

"This is another terrible rail tragedy and yet again I feel we have been let down by those who are supposed to ensure we have a safe and functional rail system," she said.

"At this time our concerns and sympathies go out to the families and friends of those who have suffered."

"Whilst at this early stage we do not know why this has happened, it is somewhat distressing for our clients who have suffered as a result of rail failures in the past, as they hoped lessons would be learnt and further tragedies prevented."

The Potters Bar accident is the fifth fatal rail crash in Britain in less than five years.

Seven people died and 139 were injured when a Great Western train from Swansea hit a freight train at Southall, in London, in September 1997.

Britain's worst rail crash for a decade happened in October 1999, when two trains collided near London's Paddington station, killing 31 people and injuring hundreds more.

Britain's worst rail crash for a decade happened in 1999, when two trains collided near London's Paddington station

In the 2000 crash at Hatfield, four people died and 35 were injured when a GNER express from London to Leeds derailed at high speed on a section of track which Railtrack admitted was "not good."

Railtrack instituted a huge programme of emergency maintenance on hundreds of miles of track and imposed speed restrictions at potential danger spots.

Figures show rail travel in the UK was enjoying a boom before the Hatfield crash, with passenger numbers increasing by about 7 percent a year.

Thousands of passengers abandoned trains, however, because of cancellations and long delays caused by the post-Hatfield restrictions.

In February 2002, confidence in the railways was further eroded following a collision between two trains near Selby, north Yorkshire, that killed 10 people after a Land Rover crashed down a motorway embankment onto the railway line.

Even before the latest crashes, train operators admitted it would take years to rebuild passenger confidence following Hatfield.