Hatfield Rail Crash priest remembers tragedy and warns of cuts compromising public safety
The Borough Mayor of Hatfield, the Rector of Hatfield and the Archdeacon of Hertford light candles
The 10th anniversary of the Hatfield rail crash which claimed four lives was marked on Sunday 17th October, ten years to the day since the disaster, in a church service and a trackside memorial.
The remembrance service was held at St Etheldreda's Church in the Hertfordshire town, after which relatives of those killed in the crash and survivors were taken to the scene of the derailment where at a point south of Hatfield station, the trackside memorial service observed silence at 12.23pm - exactly 10 years after the crash.
The four people who died were on a Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) express train from London to Leeds.
The train, travelling at more than 100mph, derailed after passing over a section of rail which then fractured.
Twelve GNER staff and 170 passengers were on the Intercity 225 service.
As well as the deaths, there were 70 injuries - four of them serious.
St Etheldreda’s Rector, The Revd Richard Pyke along with the Archdeacon of Hertford, the Ven Trevor Jones. were heavily involved at the time of the crash in providing comfort and care to the injured and bereaved.
Speaking before the service on Sunday,the Archdeacon said: “I hope that the service will allow relatives and others a chance to know that their grief is not forgotten and also help them to receive comfort from the service. Those who lost their lives or whose lives were changed by the crash as well as the rail staff who were deeply affected by the tragedy are all in our prayers at present.”
In the address, given by the Revd Richard Pyke, said: “The name of Hatfield will always been linked with that day of tragedy because nationally this tragic event has become recognised as a watershed moment in modern railway transport history; the defining moment following on from other contemporary tragedies on the railways when accountability and responsibility could no longer be fudged and safety put secondary to cost cutting, or profit-share dividends, no longer tolerated.
“Let today’s memorial service then, if nothing else send a message , a reminder to all in positions of authority be they in Government or anywhere else that where cuts are being determined , on no account must public safety be jeopardised !”
A phenomenon known as gauge corner cracking, or rolling contact fatigue, was blamed for the crash.
Network Rail's predecessor company, Railtrack, introduced hundreds of speed restrictions on the railways while tracks were checked for cracking. Train punctuality times fell sharply for many months.
Official inquiries into the derailment showed that, north of the crash position, the rail had fractured into more than 300 pieces.
The Health and Safety Executive said the train had passed over a section of track which was in a poor condition and which should have either have been replaced or a temporary speed restriction should have been brought in.
Railtrack and the maintenance company involved, Balfour Beatty, faced charges over the crash.
Manslaughter charges against the companies and also against six individuals were dropped but, in 2005, after an eight-month Old Bailey trial, Balfour Beatty was fined GBP10 million for breaching health and safety regulations.
Network Rail, which took over from Railtrack in 2002, was fined GBP3.5 million for also breaching health and safety regulations.
At the end of the trial, the judge, Mr Justice Mackay, said that, in his 30 years in the legal profession, he regarded Balfour Beatty's failure as the "worst example of sustained industrial negligence in a high-risk industry he had ever seen".
The family of the late Steve Arthur RIP, one of the four who died in the crash, were at the service, along with these official guests:
Mayor of the Borough, Councillor Howard Morgan
Deputy Mayor
Mayor of Hatfield, Councillor Linda Clark,
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Councillors
Nick Moorhouse - rep Lord and Lady Salisbury
The Archdeacon of Hertford - representing the Bishop of St Albans
Sue Jameson - Herts Police
During the service, candles were lit by:
Borough and Town Authorities
East Coast Main Line
Emergency Services
Relatives of the victims
Clergy
Hymns included the Lord is My Shepherd and Make Me a Channel of Your Peace.
The service ended with the Blessing given by the Archdeacon of Hertford.
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