Track blunder by Jarvis at King's Cross derails train

The railway engineering firm Jarvis faced fresh criticism over its safety record yesterday after faulty track repairs caused the derailment of a train at King's Cross in London during the morning rush hour.

The company, which is at the centre of the Potters Bar crash investigation, admitted responsibility for a signals failure that directed a train on to track that had a section missing.

The Independent revealed on Monday that investigations were taking place into allegations of serious safety breaches by Jarvis. Last month, two passengers were injured by flying debris allegedly left on the track after maintenance work at Milton Keynes. On the same day, Jarvis employees failed to tell a signal box to halt trains after a broken rail was discovered at Retford, Nottinghamshire.

Jarvis responded to the report by guaranteeing its inspectors would insist on "absolute and unqualified" proof that lines had been cleared after maintenance work.

Yesterday's accident occurred because Jarvis had failed to switch to permanent red the lights controlling trains leaving the station on a stretch of track under repair. As it left platform 4, the 7am GNER service to Glasgow was directed along the wrong line and came off the rails at points about 100 metres out of the station.

The train was travelling at 10mph when the driver spotted a gap where a small section of rail had been removed. He tried to stop but could not prevent the front two carriages from leaving the track. Both carriages remained upright and no one was hurt.

Jarvis said in a statement: "It would appear that, after having undertaken lengthy overnight maintenance work, the Jarvis Rail maintenance team omitted to make the final disconnection on one of the points in question."

Platforms 1 to 6 at King's Cross station were expected to reopen today after the removal of the locomotive and carriages.

GNER services on the east coast main line were disrupted and some WAGN services on the same route were affected. Rail operators advised travellers to use an alternative London station where possible.

The incident cast a shadow over the official opening of the 186mph rail link between the Channel Tunnel and north Kent.

Speaking before the inaugural trip on the high-speed track, Alistair Darling, the Transport Secretary, said of the derailment: "This is totally unacceptable and it's something we are not prepared to tolerate. On a day when we are celebrating a major achievement, it is a reminder to the industry it has to keep its eye on the day job. We need to find out what happened and why.''

Richard Bowker, chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority, said: "I think it is appalling and unacceptable. You cannot forget to put a piece of rail back. This seems to have been a breakdown in communication between two people."

After last year's Potters Bar crash, which killed seven people, Jarvis suggested sabotage as a possible cause. But the Health and Safety Executive's third progress report released earlier this year said the points that failed at Potters Bar were poorly maintained and not properly adjusted.