RMT notes that today’s final report, as expected, puts systematic management failings, lack of resources and imposition of unrealistic workloads at the heart of the Grayrigg derailment, which claimed the life of Margaret Masson and injured 86 other people in February 2007.

Similarities between the two crashes, and the coroner’s decision last year to adjourn the inquest into the seven deaths at Potters Bar in 2002 pending the outcome of the Grayrigg investigation, highlight the need for a joint public inquiry – with a remit that includes examination of the structure and continued fragmentation of the industry.

The union also renewed its call for an apology from the British Transport Police for keeping two of its members under caution over Grayrigg “without the slightest reason” for eleven months.

“It is now abundantly clear that systematic management failings, lack of resources and the fragmented ‘contract’ culture still prevalent on the railway all played their part in the complex of causes of the Grayrigg derailment,” RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

“It is a total no-brainer that there is a link between funding cuts, unrealistic workloads, inappropriate work practices and fragmentation on the one hand and inadequate standards on the other.

“The improvement notice served on Network Rail by the railways inspectorate last year made it clear that experienced track-inspection staff were being hampered by inadequate management of the inspection regime across the network.

“A second improvement notice – which NR is appealing against – requires action on the design, installation and maintenance of points across the network

The report also points out that procedures ‘inherited’ from the private sector continued

“The report points out that staff had complained before the crash at the lack of track access due to timetable changes, and that hard-pressed staff were forced to squeeze too many inspections into a few hours on a Sunday morning.

“It also says that considerable overtime was required to provide the numbers required to undertake and provide lookouts for inspections, and that there ‘may be a link between long hours and performance’

“For Network Rail to attempt, as it did, to point the finger of blame at individuals it managed so poorly was outrageous, and for police to keep two of our members under suspicion of manslaughter for nearly a year without a shred of evidence

“We need an end to the contract culture and inappropriate practices brought in by private contractors and to shift the emphasis from getting things done quickly and cheaply to doing them properly and safely.

“Both the RAIB interim report and Network Rail’s own report have pointed clearly to management failings and lack of resources, and it is those structural failings that still need to be addressed.

“Network Rail’s spending targets have been slashed by 30 per cent over the last five years and we have raised concerns about the workloads placed on individuals on a number of occasions.

“Those are the problems that need to be resolved, and we believe there still needs to be a joint public inquiry into Grayrigg and Potters Bar with a remit that includes the structure and continued fragmentation of the industry,” Bob Crow said.

ends