Lessons not learned AGAIN

The interim report into the recent train crash in Cumbria has revealed that the derailment was caused by a set of points that were in an appalling state of repair.

Points have to cope with incredible loads. They have to hold a movable section of track (the section that allows the train to go one way or another depending how the points are set) rigid under the weight of several hundred tons of train. Virgin Pendalino trains, like the one which crashed (and, worryingly, like the ones I travel to London on), can travel at up to 125mph, although the line speed for this area was 95mph according to reports.

Points are designed to cope with the immense forces acting on them using 'stretcher bars' to hold the rails in place. An inspection showed that on this set of points one stretcher bar was missing altogether, one was loose, with its nuts lying nearby, and a third was fractured. Because of this, the rails were not held in place as the train passed over the points, and it derailed.

The report also reveals that an inspection of the points, due 5 days earlier, had not been completed. So here we are again. This is effectively the same story as the Bernard Mathews turkey farm and the recent child abuse case, only this time someone died. It's a boring job, I imagine, walking lengths of track examining one set of points after another for damage, wear and tear, or loose nuts. You're examining them to a schedule imposed by someone outside, for reasons you're probably not aware of, and most of the time - probably 99% of the time - there's nothing wrong with the points. Why do they need to be checked so regularly, you wonder, when there's "never anything wrong with them?" Complacency creeps in. You finish early on a Friday - no need to check that last two miles of track. They'll be OK 'til next time, or the time after that.

But engineering works such as railways are no respecter of boredom, complacency or clocking off early. Metal fatigue works to its own timetable. Vibration loosening of nuts is unpredictable and has deadly consequences. Inspections are scheduled so that problems are detected early, and after the Potters Bar crash five years ago where the cause was virtually identical, the schedules were tightened up.

Network Rail are now busy checking thousands of points across the UK. The words "stable door" and "bolted" come to mind. Ironically, over the next few days and weeks, rail travel in the UK will probably reach levels of safety previously undreamt of, as points are scrutinised and Network Rail try to prove they are on the ball. But once again, as before, this is a failure of process. If the engineers at the bottom of the corporate pile - those who actually do the track walking - can't be relied upon to follow the schedules, then a more rigorous system of checks and sign-offs should be introduced. But that's only half the battle. Above all, when travellers' safety - no, lives! - are at stake, what's needed is an old-fashioned sense of pride in one's work. For engineers to be able to stick their chests out and say "there's no loose points on MY section of track!" and get some recognition that their job might be boring and monotonous, but it's nonetheless essential and they are doing it right, every time.