LONDON — A British railroad worker warned management about problems with a section of track three weeks before a train crash that killed seven people and injured 70, a trade union official claimed Monday, according to a wire service.
Rail authorities believe Friday’s crash 12 miles north of London occurred when the train passed over a faulty switching mechanism that diverts trains onto different tracks.
Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport union, said a worker reported last month that bolts near the mechanism were rusty or missing and that the track had not been properly maintained.
The accident, the sixth fatal crash on Britain’s rails since 1997, has further sapped public confidence in the country’s rail network and prompted calls for a public inquiry.
Crow criticized Railtrack, which owns, manages and operates almost all of Britain’s railway infrastructure but contracts much of the work out to private companies.
“What’s basically happened here is that you’ve got something in the region of 3,000 agencies working on the rail network, eight infrastructure companies, all competing against each other, all trying to make a profit,” he told Sky News. “What Railtrack should be doing is having all of this work brought back in-house.”
Transport Secretary Stephen Byers said Sunday that extensive safety checks had found no similar problems with switching mechanisms elsewhere on the rail network.
He said further investigation was needed to determine the cause of the crash but suggested it could have been mismanagement, vandalism or an error by an individual worker.
Engineers were working Monday to remove the final carriage of the four-car train that became wedged under the canopy of the Potters Bar station platform after careering off the track.