Farron calls for major public inquiry after Potters Bar inquest shows link to Grayrigg tragedy

MP Tim Farron has today commented after the conclusion of the Potters Bar inquest laid the fault of the tragedy on the unsafe points.

At the end of the inquest the rail regulator, the Crown Prosecution Service and British transport police are poised to reopen investigations into whether criminal proceedings could be brought over the deaths of seven people.

Tim says, "This inquest while welcome is inadequate. The similarities between the Grayrigg and Potters Bar tragedies are clear. There are thousands of rail points across the country and it is essential that rail travelers can have complete confidence in all of them at all times".

"But the two incidents demonstrate the need for a full public inquiry so that passenger safety can be ensured. This inquest only looked at the circumstances around the technical failures at Potters Bar but in the case of both Potters Bar and Grayrigg there has been no attempt to look openly at the systemic and managerial failure that led to the technical faults and the subsequent crashes. We know about Potters Bar and Grayrigg but we know less about the hundreds of near misses that happen on the rail network every year."