Points fault before UK rail crash

Attempts were being made on Tuesday to move the jammed fourth carriage

LONDON, England -- A pair of nuts found detached from the set of points at the centre of the latest fatal UK rail crash had also been discovered loose nine days before the accident, it has been revealed.

Rail maintenance contractor Jarvis Plc said the nuts had been found during a routine check on May 1.

"They were put back in place. These nuts, and others, were found detached after the accident," said a Jarvis spokesman on Tuesday.

On Monday, the UK government confirmed that faulty points caused last week's rail crash at Potters Bar, north of London, which killed seven people and injured about 70 others.

In a statement to the House of Commons, Transport Secretary Stephen Byers said two nuts were missing from the points system causing the rear carriage to derail.

MORE STORIES • Taiwan reporters among British train dead  • UK fatal rail crash inquiry begins  • Seven dead in UK rail crash  • On the scene: 'Complete devastation'  • Witnesses describe crash horror  • More misery on Britain's rails  • Rail expert: Points may have moved  • Timeline: History of tragedy    EXTRA INFORMATION Photo gallery: Scenes from the crash

Byers said the points system was eight years old -- far older than the six months that UK rail infrastructure operator Railtrack had originally reported.

Railtrack, the company the runs the UK's rail infrastructure who contracts out maintenance work to several companies, including Jarvis, said: "Records show that inspections of this section of track were carried out according to regulations."

Railtrack chief executive John Armitt said there was nothing to back up a variety of claims that the company had been forewarned of problems on the line near the station.

"We have not been able to identify any record which shows that we received any particular warning about the state of the track, and particularly the state of the points at Potters Bar," he told the BBC.

A Health and Safety Executive official interim report, published on Tuesday, confirmed that early indications suggested that a fault in a set of points south of the station caused the derailment.

The report said there was no evidence so far to support the theory that the points had been vandalised or deliberately damaged.

There was also no evidence that the signals were at fault or that the train was being badly driven.

The report said that the train was travelling up to 100mph and that the rear part of the train derailed about 150 metres to the south of the station.

It said: "Evidence suggests that the points in question moved as the rear of the third carriage of the train passed over them, deflecting the fourth and last carriage towards the left.

Byers has called for "an immediate formal investigation"

"It is believed this happened because nuts on two stretcher bars were detached. The locking bar connecting the tips of the points was then subject to forces normally shared by the stretchers, and it failed.

"The rear carriage derailed and slewed sideways, detaching from the rest of the train. It skidded along the track, passing over a bridge and came to rest on its side, wedged under the station canopy."

The interim report came as engineers began moving the rail carriage which crashed into the Potters Bar station platform.

Jarvis and Railtrack have said the points at the centre of the accident investigation met safety standards on May 9. (More on points theory)

"In both cases, these tests and inspections were carried out by full-time Jarvis employees. No sub-contracted personnel were involved," Jarvis said in a statement released by the London Stock Exchange on Monday. (Jarvis shares plunge)

Meanwhile, at the scene of the crash on Tuesday, two nylon straps were being attached to the passenger carriage and a crane was being used to raise it up a few feet in the air and slowly move it across the station.

Seven people died and more than 70 others were injured

A Railtrack spokeswomen said: "The engineers are going to try and slide it across the platform and search it before it can be lifted away from the scene."

It is planned that the carriage will be manoeuvred on to a platform and stabilised so British Transport Police and the Health and Safety Executive can carry out a search inside for personal items belonging to passengers.

The Potters Bar crash is the latest blow to an industry which has lurched from crisis to crisis over recent years. (Details)

It happened a few miles from Hatfield, where four people died when an express came off the tracks in 2000. (Full story)