Potters Bar is ‘a warning’

The outcome of the prosecution in relation to the 2002 Potters Bar rail disaster, which killed seven people, is a warning against reprivatisation, says rail union RMT. Six passengers were killed when an express train travelling from London to King’s Lynn derailed at a faulty set of points in Hertfordshire. The seventh fatality was a passer-by hit by debris.

Network Rail pleaded guilty to charges over the condition of the tracks at the disaster site near the station in Hertfordshire, saying it had taken over all Railtrack’s liabilities when it took over the company five months after the accident. Sentencing was due to take place as Workplace Report went to press.

A Network Rail spokesperson said the railways were now safer than ever and “almost unrecognisable“ from the days of the tragedy.

But RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “This news should stop those from the Tory Party and the business sector in their tracks who are arguing for reprivatisation.” He added: “It was the dash for profits and the cutting of corners in the name of greed that led the UK railways to Potters Bar and that lesson should not be forgotten today.”