Urgent inquiry into rail safety breaches by British firm

LONDON - An urgent inquiry has been launched into allegations of serious breaches of rail safety regulations by Jarvis - the company at the centre of the Potters Bar train crash investigation.

Staff working for Jarvis allegedly left a railway line near Milton Keynes station in such a dangerous condition that debris flew into the air as a 100mph express passed on August 20, injuring two passengers waiting on the platform.

At the same time on the same day at Retford, the Network Rail confidential log reports that Jarvis employees failed to tell a signal-box to halt trains after a broken rail was discovered. A senior manager was subsequently ordered to explain to Jarvis staff "the error of their ways".

News of the incidents comes while Jarvis is trying to secure other public contracts. To the anger of families bereaved by the Potters Bar crash, the company signed a £270 million ($735 million) deal with Herefordshire County Council last week to provide a range of services, including transport. The company is pursuing £3 billion ($8.1b) in public-sector business.

Earlier this month, Jarvis was fined £4000 ($10,897) and ordered to pay £2500 ($6810) costs after two rail workers were electrocuted near York when a crane jib hit an overhead wire carrying 25,000 volts. In March it was fined the maximum £25,000 ($68,099) after a rail vehicle carrying workers, but not intended for that purpose, derailed and overturned.

The group is also facing court proceedings in Liverpool over the death of a girl aged eight who stepped on a live rail.

Jarvis insists that the Potters Bar crash, in which seven people were killed, could have been caused by sabotage, although rail inspectors argue that the most likely cause was poor management.

Concern over the company's safety record will be raised by the incidents in August, reported in Network Rail's internal log.

At Milton Keynes station, Jarvis workers left the site in a "mess" after work to renew the track during the night, according to senior managers. When a high-speed train from Wolverhampton to London Euston sped through the station, nylon insulator pads were "blown up with the turbulence, showering the passengers", the report said.

More than five hours later, a Virgin driver reported seeing Pandrol clips "flying along the platform" having been dislodged by another train. The metal clips secure the rails and weigh about 1.3kg each.

- INDEPENDENT