NEWS
Court date set for Potters Bar derailment prosecution J
arvis Rail and Network Rail will come before
magistrates on February 21 over the Potters Bar derailment in 2002, in which seven people were killed and many more seriously injured.
They both face one charge under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, of failing to provide and implement suitable and sufficient training, standards, procedures and
Latest station access improvements revealed
guidance for the installation, maintenance and inspection of adjustable stretcher bars.
Jarvis’s administrators provided the ORR with the necessary consent to allow criminal proceedings to begin at Watford Magistrates’ Court.
Ian Prosser, director of rail safety at ORR, said: “I have decided there is enough evidence, and it is in the public interest, to
prosecute Network Rail and Jarvis Rail for serious health and safety breaches. For the sake of the families involved, we will do all we can to ensure the prosecutions proceed as quickly as possible.
“The railway today is as safe as it has ever been, but there can be no room for complacency.”
The inquest into the deaths last summer returned seven verdicts
of accidental death, after which the Crown Prosecution Service concluded there were no grounds to reconsider its 2005 decision not to prosecute any person or organisation for gross negligent manslaughter.
The maximum penalty magistrates can impose for each charge is a £20,000 fine, but if the case is committed to Crown Court, the potential fine is unlimited.
New Street, new start
The latest station to get disability access funding will be especially beneficial to nearby hospital users, according to Network Rail.
Denmark Hill Station near Camberwell, south London is right next to King’s College and Maudsley hospitals and is one of 148 stations to get funding from the £370m Access For All scheme. The station will become step-free thanks to a new footbridge and three new lifts with CCTV and telephone links.
Dave Ward, Network Rail’s route director for Kent, said: “An important part of building a bigger and better railway is to make it easier for everyone to use. The installation of lifts at Denmark Hill is great news for passengers and a big boost for the community and businesses, as well as those visiting nearby King’s College and Maudsley hospitals.”
Work will start within months and is due to finish in summer next year. Network Rail said services should be “largely unaffected”.
I
n-depth research into passenger views about the Birmingham New Street rebuild shows train users keen to embrace the project – but sceptical about claims disruption will be minimal.
Network Rail and Passenger Focus commissioned focus groups to investigate the reaction of leisure and business users and regular commuters to the £600m redevelopment, aimed at modernising the ‘dark’ and ‘dismal’ 1960s structure.
The station, the busiest outside London, was felt by to be an oppressive and overcrowded place at the moment, with poor facilities and bad lighting. Most felt it created negative impressions of the city.
Passenger reactions to the details and images of the Gateway
4 | rail technology magazine Dec/Jan 11
redevelopment plan were very positive, but the report warned: “The references to minimal impact and disruption were often dismissed by respondents given the scale of the work.”
One respondent said: “There is bound to be congestion when they are moving plant and machinery around. How will they get the new roof on without causing any disruption?”
Another said: “It’s very positive to say that and [be] optimistic but there will be fewer platforms for the same number of trains.”
But the vast majority of feedback was positive and station users were excited with the vision for the station.
Passenger Focus chief executive Anthony Smith said: “Those travelling through Birmingham over the years have been keen to see improvements to the station and its facilities. Passengers welcome this funding and are looking forward to the completion of the work. In the meantime, passengers want lots of communication to ensure they feel a part of the project rather than alienated.”
Ben Herbert, communications manager for Network Rail, said: “We’ve committed to minimising disruption for passengers during construction and by only closing one platform at a time, we can keep the station open while we work behind the scenes.”
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