'The scandal of Hatfield'

Four people died in the crash

The Hatfield rail crash was "a disaster waiting to happen," an Old Bailey jury heard today.

When the faulty rail eventually broke, it derailed a King's Cross-to-Leeds train, killing four people.

Despite the danger faced by thousands of passengers using the East Coast main line, rail bosses imposed no speed restrictions or safety measures on this stretch of track.

The disaster was due to "complete-corporate failures" and key managers choosing not to operate "by the book", Richard Lissack QC, prosecuting, told the court.

The backlog of repairs was so vast that had managers operated properly, King's Cross would have been shut down. In the dock are three managers of Railtrack (now Network Rail) and two from maintenance contractor Balfour Beatty, who are all charged with four counts of manslaughter and a health and safety charge. All have pleaded not guilty.

Balfour Beatty also faces four corporate manslaughter charges and - along with Railtrack - a count under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Opening the case in front of an Old Bailey jury in a large modern courtroom in Holborn, Mr Lissack said the express was travelling at 115mph when it was derailed in October 2000.

The four who died were: Steve Arthur, 46, a pilot and company director from Pease Pottage, West Sussex; Peter Monkhouse, 50, an advertising agent from Leeds; Leslie Grey, 43, a solicitor from Nottingham and Robert Alcorn, 37, from New Zealand.

Mr Lissack said the crash signalled "a seminal moment in the short and troubled history of Britain's privatised railway system".

"The direct financial cost may be measured in tens of millions of pounds but the indirect cost was to bring the whole rail network to a crawl and mark the beginning of the end of the wholly commercial management of the rail infrastructure," he said.

The rail which caused the crash was suffering from "gauge corner cracking" (GCC), which caused cracks invisible to the naked eye that widened as trains thundered over them.

"The rail which broke was first identified from suffering from GCC in January 1999, about 21 months before the crash," said Mr Lissack.

"It was identified by February 2000 at the latest as requiring replacement urgently, and the replacement rail sat beside the line waiting to be fitted from April at the latest. Yet despite the danger... there was no speed restriction put in place.

"Every defendant knew long before the accident what GCC was, that GCC could cause a rail break and the importance of removing a line badly damaged by GCC and the simple step of imposing a temporary speed restriction.

"They were aware a replacement would dramatically reduce the risk of a catastrophic derailment... Throughout this period Balfour Beatty's maintenance of this line was totally inadequate and the company knew it.

"During the first half of 2000 the problems were so bad and so numerous that had they done things to the book... King's Cross would have been shut completely.

"They departed from the rule book at their peril - this was no accident, it was a disaster waiting to happen."

Mr Lissack described the section of line as "not just a bad bit of track - it was dreadful".

Scientists examining the rail said it was the worst they had seen.

The court heard the line had become so damaged because of two areas of "complete corporate failure".

Firstly, the companies had failed to manage the site. Having identified the need to replace the rail they failed to protect the public, said Mr Lissack.

He added: "Balfour Beatty was obviously to blame because it was their responsibility for maintenance of the track - but Railtrack are equally to blame.

"The only proper way of dealing with this extremely serious situation was to follow the prescribed codified book of rules that govern what you do.

"But these defendants chose another way and dealt with things informally."

The trial, in front of Mr Justice Mckay, is due to last up to a year.

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