Sabotage 'may have caused' rail crash

The points have been removed for examination

Sabotage by an "informed person" may have caused the Potters Bar train crash, the engineering firm responsible for track maintenance has said.

Jarvis said the theory that somebody with "utterly perverse" intent could have tampered with the points that derailed the train and killed seven people should be treated more seriously.

Chief operating officer Kevin Hyde said there was no maintenance requirement for two nuts found lying by the track to be removed, or for a switch rail used to shift trains to another piece of line to be moved.

We have come up with a number of factors that suggest to us external sabotage

Jarvis spokesman

Mr Hyde said there was also evidence of a sabotage attempt nine days before the 10 May accident, when a set of undone nuts was discovered on nearby points during a maintenance check.

A British Transport Police (BTP) spokesman said its officers and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) had no concrete evidence to suggest sabotage, although it was too early to rule the theory out.

Suggesting that someone with an understanding of engineering may have tampered with the points, a spokesman for Jarvis said: "There's possible evidence of sabotage and it should be investigated fully.

"In terms of causing disruption to the railway, not necessarily to cause a major accident, it looks to us as if, if there was a situation of an outside person playing around with the points, it would be somebody who knew at least roughly what they were doing."

He said Jarvis was not trying to escape any blame, or to suggest a disgruntled former employee was involved.

'Not casual vandalism'

But he added: "We have come up with a number of factors that suggest to us external sabotage, not casual vandalism, and it should be looked at fully."

The spokesman said Jarvis was still investigating whether its own operations could be responsible for the crash.

An interim report by the Health and Safety Executive, released earlier this week, said its initial investigations showed the nuts may not have been replaced properly, or that maintenance work was unfinished.

The HSE wants to establish why the nuts were missing

It said that if sabotage was involved it would have been of "an extremely sophisticated and daring nature".

The BTP spokesman said: "Jarvis's speculation is based on secondary evidence in the form of photos.

"We and the HSE are examining the primary evidence and will pursue all areas of inquiry to determined the cause of this derailment."

The damage to the points caused the fourth carriage of a train travelling at 100mph to derail and land sideways on the platform at Potters Bar.

In addition to those killed, more than 70 people were injured.