« Labour Needs New Leadership | Main | Reasons to be fearful #1 »
April 28, 2004
Railways
So Jarvis and Network Rail have admitted liability for the Potters Bar crash in which seven people died. At first sight, it might seem good news that the organisations involved have accepted responsibility for the accident, but then you check the small print...A Jarvis spokesman added the move did not mean the firm was to blame for the accident, which killed seven people.
In fact all Jarvis have done is agreed joint liability for the compensation claims, whilst continuing to protest their innocence. Personally I share Bob Crowe's sense of disbelief...
"This is a nonsense. How can they accept liability without accepting responsibility?"
Indeed. After all, according to my dictionary:
liability (n) 1. the state of being liable.
liable (adj) 1. Legally obliged or responsible; answerable.
It would be no different if you saw a road accident, but were not involved, however you gave those involved your insurance details so they could claim off you.
I suspect that the motivation here is to try and push the whole matter out of the public eye in the hope that it will be forgotten. With more and more railway maintenance work being taken in-house, companies such as Jarvis, who thrived on rail contracts under privatisation, will need to look elsewhere for business. Having the legacy of Potters Bar hanging around doesn't make for a good advert.
Meanwhile after nearly 2 years and 3 interim reports, the HSE has still not yet identified the root cause of the accident. Let me give them a clue: look who pushed through railway privatisation, because there's the root cause.
--------
Posted by Clive on April 28, 2004 11:08 AM in the category Old Stuff