Inquest to be held into Potters Bar rail crash - but no public inquiry (From Times Series)

Inquest to be held into Potters Bar rail crash - but no public inquiry

1:35pm Friday 19th June 2009 in News By Rebecca Lowe

MPs and union members have slammed the Government for failing to hold a public inquiry into the Potters Bar and Grayrigg train crashes.

The Department of Transport (DfT) has agreed to hold two independent inquests into the tragedies, which claimed eight lives between them, but stopped short of a full public investigation.

Theresa Villiers, Conservative MP for Chipping Barnet, said: “This is a real blow for the families of those who died in these terrible crashes.

"It is unacceptable for the Government to have left those campaigning tirelessly for a Potters Bar inquiry hanging on for seven years.

"The delay has only served to increase the distress to those who were injured or lost loved ones as a result of the crash."

An inquest was about to start into the 2002 Potters Bar rail crash when it was adjourned following the Grayrigg crash in Cumbria in February 2007.

The DfT said yesterday that Transport Secretary Lord Adonis had decided two independent inquests would ensure "complete public scrutiny" of the accidents.

A DfT spokesman said: "His decision was shaped by the results of a number of detailed investigations into both accidents, including by the safety regulator and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) and also the views of the families concerned and the rail industry.

"He believes the two inquests, alongside these investigations, will ensure that lessons are learned and acted upon and as such are as effective as a public inquiry.

"The Secretary of State appreciates this wait has been difficult for the families but is confident that the inquests will enable them to participate and express their concerns in a transparent forum, capable of examining all the relevant issues."

Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT rail union, said: "The inquest announcement is welcome but is not an alternative to a full public inquiry and it's a scandal that the Government have specifically ruled that out."

Seven people were killed and 76 injured in the 2002 crash, when a West Anglia Great Northern high-speed train travelling from London to King's Lynn in Norfolk was derailed as it went over faulty points just outside Potters Bar station.

In April 2004, Network Rail and Jarvis, who maintained that section of the line, accepted liability on behalf of the rail industry for all legal claims brought by the bereaved and injured.

In October 2005, the Crown Prosecution Service advised British Transport Police that there was no realistic prospect of conviction for an offence of gross negligence or manslaughter against any individual or corporation in respect of the Potters Bar accident.