The “cavalier” attitude of the train driver and the fragmentation of the railways caused by privatisation combined to cause the 1997 Southall rail disaster, the official inquiry has found. The “cavalier” attitude of the train driver and the fragmentation of the railways caused by privatisation combined to cause the 1997 Southall rail disaster, the official inquiry has found.
In a damning indictment of the safety regime on the national rail network, the report into the crash, published yesterday, says the rules are “a confusing hotchpotch”. The impact of such confusion is “to put the convenience of operators before the interests of safety”, says the document compiled by Professor John Uff. All safety rules should be applied nationally and differences between train operators should only be permitted “only where good reason is shown”.Referring to the fragmentation of the industry, Professor Uff said that the safety culture had changed since privatisation and the tradition of “commitment and dedication of staff who spend a lifetime with British Rail” could no longer be counted on. “Now it is a question of written rules and those rules have to be clear,” he said.The document also points the finger of blame at Larry Harrison, the driver of the Swansea to Paddington Great Western express, which smashed into a freight train killing seven people and injuring more than 140. That was the “primary cause” of the tragedy, Professor Uff said.Mr Harrison had been guilty of inexplicable “inattention” when he drove at 125mph through double yellow and yellow warning lights, the inquiry found. Witnesses told last year’s inquiry that Mr Harrison adopted a “casual” attitude earlier in the journey and was seen with his feet up on the console.

In a particularly damaging passage the document says: “Driver Harrison can be seen as a man capable of irregular behaviour which might lead to the disregarding of safety rules.”Mick Rix, general secretary of Aslef, the train drivers’ union, hit back at Professor Uff’s assertions, calling them “totally unjustified and unfair”. “The truth of Professor Uff’s remarks about Larry Harrison depend on the single allegation that he had his both his feet up But we very much contest that he did… it was the failure of a whole system, not just the failure of one individual.”In a statement, Mr Harrison said: “I would like to say once again to the bereaved families and passengers who were injured in the Southall train crash, how sorry I am for what happened. I made a mistake, a human error, which had terrible consequences.”The report also takes Great Western to task for failing to ensure that safety systems were working on the train. And Railtrack should have had rules in place to prevent services running when the automatic warning system, which buzzes when warning lights are approached, was not in operation, it says.Last night, the infrastructure company pointed out that although the industry had experienced “fragmentation”, its safety record had improved since privatisation.

A spokesman said that since 1994 the number of train collisions had decreased by 70 per cent, derailments by 40 per cent, serious incidents involving signals passed at danger had gone down by 40 per cent and deaths at level crossings by 60 per cent.After the findings were issued, the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, was criticised for letting Railtrack keep most of its safety responsibilities. Relatives of those killed in the crash said Mr Prescott should have read the report before making his decision on Tuesday.. The primary cause of the Southall rail disaster was the driver’s “unexplained inattention” and failure to respond to warning signals, the official inquiry has decided. The primary cause of the Southall rail disaster was the driver’s “unexplained inattention” and failure to respond to warning signals, the official inquiry has decided.
However Great Western Trains was to blame for failing to ensure that the Automatic Warning System (AWS) and the more sophisticated Automatic Train Protection (ATP) on the express train was in operation, the report said.