Complacent. Incompetent. Guilty. The damning verdict on Railtrack
* Paddington disaster report criticises Railtrack's 'lamentable' failure * Company neglected to improve signalling system * Executives may face manslaughter charges
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Your support makes all the difference.Senior executives at Railtrack may face manslaughter charges after a damning report into the Paddington disaster accused the infrastructure company of "lamentable" failure and "dangerous complacency".
The Director of Public Prosecutions, David Calvert-Smith QC, is "rethinking" his initial refusal to bring charges of unlawful corporate killing against Railtrack managers.
Lord Cullen's devastating 300-page critique of the company said there had been "serious and persistent" management failures over the siting of signals by Railtrack. The company had been afflicted by "institutional paralysis" and incompetence.
Senior supervisors at Railtrack's signalling centre, which controlled the Paddington area, harboured a "dangerously complacent attitude" to the problem of signals passed at danger, it added. Lord Cullen confirmed that the immediate cause of the crash was a Thames Trains service on its way out of Paddington passing a red signal then disintegrating as it smashed "virtually head-on" into an incoming First Great Western express, killing 31 people.
The report said Michael Hodder, the newly qualified driver, probably believed he was clear to pass the signal, SN 109, which was partly obscured by a bridge and overhead lines and which had been passed "at danger" eight times before.
The approach by Thames to driver training was "slack and less than adequate", said Lord Cullen, and there were "significant failures of communication within the organisation". Mr Hodder had not been warned about the dangers of SN 109. A signalman could have averted the collision, but delayed for vital seconds before sending a radio message to the commuter service to stop.
The industry was also taken to task for the absence of an organised evacuation procedure in the aftermath of the collision.
But the most devastating criticism was reserved for Railtrack, which failed to improve the highly complicated signalling system outside the west London station despite pleas from First Great Western and other officials.
At a press conference later, a survivor, Tony Knox, who was on the First Great Western train, held up a wanted poster with the name of the former Railtrack chief executive. "As far as I am concerned, Gerald Corbett is wanted for serial killings on British railways," he said. Mr Corbett had "blood on his hands" and should be prosecuted", he claimed.
But two factions of the Paddington Survivors Group are clashing. Pam Warren, who until recently wore a surgical mask to protect her face, badly burnt in the disaster, said such comments were "not helpful". She added that the attitude to safety of Mr Corbett, who resigned from Railtrack and now runs Woolworths, had changed after the Paddington disaster.
Louise Christian, the solicitor representing crash victims, insisted there was a case for a prosecution. "Our view is that the evidence which has emerged in this report does make the case for a corporate manslaughter prosecution."
Even if the Crown Prosecution Service decides against manslaughter charges, the Health and Safety Executive's rail inspectors are expected to pursue legal proceedings over the state of the signalling system outside Paddington. If proved, such charges carry unlimited fines for a company already seeking billions of pounds more from taxpayers to meet its obligations.
A CPS spokesman said it would "carefully consider" yesterday's report and make a decision on charges "shortly". The Transport Secretary, Stephen Byers, said he was asking the Health and Safety Commission to ensure Lord Cullen's 89 recommendations were acted upon, and to report back in six months.
Chris Leah, Railtrack's safety director, said much work had already been completed to make the railways "even safer". Railtrack shares closed nearly 4 per cent up, rising 11.75p to finish on 334.75p.
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