THE Office of Rail Regulation has started criminal proceedings against Network Rail and Jarvis Rail for alleged breaches of health and safety law in connection with the Potters Bar derailment, even though the Crown Prosecution Service has recently confirmed its 2005 decision not to bring charges following the accident.
 
The prosecutions follow the conclusion of the inquest this summer and the ORR's investigation into the derailment of a West Anglia Great Northern train as it travelled over points on the approach to Potters Bar station on 10 May 2002. Seven people were killed and 76 others hurt, many of them seriously.
 
Network Rail Infrastructure Limited is facing a charge under section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (HSWA).

The prosecution will allege that, as infrastructure controller for the national rail network, it failed to provide and implement suitable and sufficient training, standards, procedures and guidance for the installation, maintenance and inspection of adjustable stretcher bars -- an essential component of the points involved.
 
Jarvis Rail Limited is also facing a charge under section 3(1) of HSWA for the same reason.

At the time of the incident the infrastructure controller for the national rail network was Railtrack plc (in administration).

Railtrack was taken over by Network Rail Limited in October 2002 and later renamed Network Rail Infrastructure Limited.

In May 2002, Jarvis Rail Limited was the infrastructure maintenance contractor for the Potters Bar area. Jarvis Rail went into administration in March 2010. 
 
Ian Prosser, the director of rail safety at the ORR, said: “The conclusion of the recent inquest into the derailment at Potters Bar has allowed the regulator to make a decision on whether any enforcement action should be brought in relation to the incident.
 
“I have decided there is enough evidence, and it is in the public interest, to prosecute Network Rail and Jarvis Rail for serious health and safety breaches. For the sake of the families involved, we will do all we can to ensure the prosecutions proceed as quickly as possible.
 
“The railway today is as safe as it has ever been, but there can be no room for complacency. Where failings are found those at fault must be held to account – and the entire rail industry must continue to strive for improvements to ensure that public safety is never put at a similar risk again.”

The ORR added that although the CPS had decided not to bring charges of manslaughter, the decision to prosecute under health & safety law had been made in accordance with ORR’s Enforcement Policy Statement, the Enforcement Management Model and the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
 
The maximum penalty the magistrates’ court can impose for each charge is a fine of £20,000. If the case is committed to the Crown Court the maximum penalty that may be imposed for each charge is an unlimited fine.
 
The first hearing has been arranged to take place at Watford Magistrates’ Court on 7 January.