Workers' short-cut 'caused train crash'

Track workers may have deliberately dismantled the points which caused the rail crash in Cumbria last Friday.

Staff working on the line - possibly for a private contractor - may have removed vital components as a short cut to complete the work quickly, according to industry sources. At least 200 trains carrying tens of thousands of passengers passed over the faulty points before the accident in which a Virgin Pendolino train left the track, killing an elderly woman and seriously injuring five other people.

Network Rail confirmed that video footage taken by special engineering equipment found that a critical piece of equipment, which stabilises the points, was missing from the crossover two days before the accident. The film showed that the front stretcher bar, which keeps the rails apart, was missing from the points last Wednesday.

A spokesman for the infrastructure company however said that, as a matter of routine, the video footage was not inspected until after the crash.

The industry sources argued that workers may have taken the points apart in order to switch a vehicle from one track to another. Under normal circumstances the special crossover can only be operated by line-side personnel if it has been "released" by a signaller. The points are only used for engineering work and during emergencies.

The industry insider said the evidence pointed to maintenance staff taking the points apart so that they could switch a vehicle from one track to another without the involvement or authorisation of the signaller. Clearly the staff then failed to reassemble the equipment.

Investigators are attempting to find out which engineering vehicles were on the track since 15 February when the points were last used officially. The interim report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said employees failed to undertake the scheduled inspection of the points on 18 February.

The source said that a supervisor, who did not normally undertake the inspection work, had wrongly started his examination of track to the south of the points.

On legal advice, a dozen Network Rail employees were refusing to co-operate yesterday with the RAIB investigation.

Network Rail's chief executive, John Armitt, has said he would not resign. "My responsibility now is to stay with it and to make sure we understand what has happened so that we can put in place any changes which may be necessary to minimise any likelihood of this happening again."