Network Rail fined £3m over Potter’s Bar


by Katie Silvester


In a controversial decision, Network Rail has been fined £3m for safety failures that led to the Potter’s Bar rail accident in 2002 – even though the infrastructure was managed by Railtrack at the time. The prosecution was brought about by the Office of Rail Regulation. But some commentators believe that fining Network


Rail is counterproductive, as funding, largely provided by the state, that was due to be spent on maintenance and to the railway, will now be handed back to the Treasury. Rail union the RMT believes that the directors at


Jarvis, the contractor responsible for track maintenance at the time of the derailment, should be held responsible, not Network Rail. Jarvis has since gone into administration. General secretary Bob Crow said: ‘Instead of coming


out of the pockets of those actually responsible, this £3m fine will come out of precious, public Network Rail funds that could and should have been invested in improving and maintaining safety on our railways. ‘The daughter of one of the Potter’s Bar victims told


Anglia ITT released


The Department for Transport has issued its initial invitation to tender for the Greater Anglia franchise. The unusually short


franchise, just 17 months initially, aims to bridge that gap between the end of the current franchise and the next full-length one, which will be issued once the McNulty value-for-money report has been evaluated so that its recommendations can potentially be built into the franchise agreement. The interim franchise


will run from February 2012 until at least July 2013. Bidders will need to consider how they can improve passenger satisfaction and deliver longer and more frequent services during the Olympics next year. The three short-listed


bidders are Abellio Greater Anglia (NV Nederlandse Spoorwegen), Eastern Railway (Go-Ahead Group) and Stagecoach Anglia Trains (Stagecoach Group). Present incumbent National Express has not been invited to submit a full bid.


PAGE 8 JUNE 2011


the Guardian that, as a taxpayer, she resented Network Rail’s fine and would have preferred to see individual directors of Railtrack and Jarvis fined. A Network Rail spokesman said: ‘We accept the fine as we accept the liabilities inherited from Railtrack. We say again today that we are truly sorry.’ Network Rail was also ordered to pay costs of £150,000. Seven people died when a West Anglia Great Northern train derailed after crossing faulty points at nearly 100mph.


n Merseyrail’s owners, Serco and Abellio, have been fined £85,000 and ordered to pay costs of £21,000 after pleading guilty to health and safety breaches following a runaway train derailment on 30 June 2009. The sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court followed


an investigation by the Office of Rail Regulation into the derailment, which happened after a stationery train in Kirkdale depot, Liverpool, ran onto the main line and crashed into a buffer and a wall. The train, which had been undergoing repairs, narrowly avoided colliding with a passenger train.


Chiltern fine ‘should fund improvements’


London TravelWatch has written to the government urging it to spend a £500,000 fine for Chiltern Railways on funding improvements for passengers. The train operator faces the fine for breaches of its franchise agreement (see Rail Professional, May 2011, page 6.) Jo deBank of London


n


TravelWatch said: ‘We concluded that there was minimal loss to passengers caused by the technical breaches, and that penalising the company would be perverse if it led to reduced benefits or a worse service for passengers. ‘We believe a better solution would be to base the penalty on actual passenger benefits, which would fulfil the requirements of the Railways Act and mean that passengers do not lose out.’ The pressure group believes these improvements could include: n Oyster card top-up facilities at all ticket vending machines in the London area;


n Refurbishment of Sudbury and Harrow Road, plus new shelters at Sudbury Hill, Harrow; and


n Additional services at stops or stations that are currently under- served.


Balfour Beatty Regional Civil Engineering replaces Knottingley Road rail bridge in Yorkshire during a 53-hour possession


CONSULTATION LAUNCHED ON NORTHERN LINE EXTENSION


n


A public consultation into the proposed 3km


extension of the Northern Line from Kennington to a major new development on the site of Battersea Power Station is underway.


Launched jointly by TfL and


developer Treasury Holdings, it began on Monday 9 May and is due to end on Friday 17 June. Both say


the privately funded scheme would regenerate Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea. Treasury Holdings managing director Rob Tincknell said: ‘The extension of the Northern Line is recognised as necessary for the full regeneration of the area.’


Exhibitions are taking place in the areas affected. The extension could be complete in 2017.


New staff premises built on former marshalling yard


The former site of the Temple Mills yard has come back to life as the Orient Way carriage sidings for Network East Anglia. On Friday 6 May, operations


director Mark Philips opened the new £520,000 staff accommodation to compliment the recently opened £1m carriage washing unit.


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