LONDON — According to a wire service, the company that operates Britain’s railway infrastructure said Friday it was suing a motorist for 11 million pounds (dlrs 15.73) over the fatal train crash he caused last year.
Railtrack said it had served a writ against Gary Hart last month to recover costs for damage and lost business caused by the double train derailment on Feb. 28 last year, in which 10 people were killed.
In January, Hart, 37, was sentenced to five years in prison for causing the crash near the village of Great Heck, near Selby, 200 miles (320 kms) northeast of London.
After he fell asleep at the wheel, Hart’s Land Rover left the highway, barreled down an embankment and crashed onto the main east coast rail line. Hart escaped from the vehicle and telephoned police, but as he spoke to the emergency operator on his cell phone, a London-bound express train hit his vehicle, veered off the rails and collided with an oncoming coal train.
Six passengers and four train workers died in the accident and 76 people were injured.
A spokesman for Railtrack said that although the writ was served in Hart’s name, the claim would be settled between insurance companies.
“The writ was served on March 28,” the spokesman said on condition of anonymity. “Our insurers are seeking to recoup the costs of the Great Heck accident from Gary Hart’s insurers. We had the biggest costs because we footed the bill for the cleanup operation, repairing the track and so on.”
Hart’s Land Rover was insured with the Fortis Insurance company — part of the international Fortis group. Immediately after last year’s crash, the company said it had arrangements in place that provided protection against major incidents such as the Great Heck crash.
The company said at the time it expected the total cost of claims to run into tens of millions of pounds (dollars) and that the cost would “not impact the solvency of the company or its ability to meet future liabilities.”
Fortis Insurance was expected to make a statement on the Railtrack writ later Friday.
Railtrack owns, manages and operates almost all of Britain’s railway infrastructure, including track, signaling and bridges.
It was set up when the state railway system was sold off in the early 1990s. More than a dozen other private companies own and run the trains.
The beleaguered company was placed in administration last year after the government cut off further public subsidies.