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The Hatfield rail crash was a railway accident that occurred on 17 October 2000, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK. October 17 is the 290th (in leap years the 291st) day of the year according to the Gregorian calendar. ...
2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Arms of Hatfield Rural District Council Map sources for Hatfield, Hertfordshire at grid reference TL234086 Hatfield is a town in Hertfordshire, England. ...
A Great North Eastern Railway Intercity train bound for Leeds had left London King's Cross at 1210 local time. It was travelling at over 115mph, when it suddenly derailed south of Hatfield station at around 1224. Four people were killed and a further seventy injured. Those who died were: GNER White Rose train at Kings Cross railway station Great North Eastern Railways (GNER) is a British train operating company owned by Sea Containers. ...
InterCity is a name for the inter-city rail services in Europe. ...
Leeds Coat Of Arms Map sources for Leeds at grid reference SE297338 Leeds is a city in the county of West Yorkshire, in the north of England. ...
This GNER train serving Kings Cross is named White Rose after the traditional symbol of Yorkshire. ...
- Robert James Alcorn, 37, of Auckland, New Zealand
- Steve Arthur, 46, from Pease Pottage, West Sussex
- Leslie Gray, 43, of Tuxford, Nottingham
- Peter Monkhouse, 50, of Headingley, Leeds
A preliminary investigation found that a rail had fragmented while the train had passed over it, and that the likely cause was "gauge corner cracking" (microscopic cracks in the rails). This led to temporary speed restrictions being imposed on huge lengths of Britain's railways, effectively crippling many routes, while checks were carried out on the rails. It was found that the incidence of cracks similar to those that caused the rail failure at Hatfield was alarmingly high throughout the country's railway lines. Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest urban area in New Zealand. ...
Pease Pottage is a small village just outside Crawley, in West Sussex. ...
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex (with Brighton and Hove), Hampshire and Surrey. ...
Nottingham is a city located in Nottinghamshire, in the East Midlands of England. ...
Headingley is also the name of a city in Manitoba, Canada. ...
Leeds Coat Of Arms Map sources for Leeds at grid reference SE297338 Leeds is a city in the county of West Yorkshire, in the north of England. ...
As a result, Railtrack, the company that owned Britain's railway tracks, instigated a nationwide (and costly) track replacement programme. The spiralling costs set in motion the series of events which resulted in the ultimate collapse of the company, and its replacement by the not-for-profit company Network Rail. Railtrack was a group of companies which owned the tracks, signals, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and some stations of the British railway system from its privatisation in 1996 until 2002. ...
Network Rails logo Network Rail is a British not for dividend Company Limited by Guarantee that owns the fixed assets of that part of the British railway system that formerly belonged to British Rail, the now defunct UK state-owned rail operator. ...
Court case In 2003 six people and two companies – Network Rail (as successors of Railtrack) and the division of Balfour Beatty that maintained the track – were charged with manslaughter in connection with the accident. Charges against Network Rail/Railtrack and some of its executives were dropped in September 2004, but the other charges still stand. The trial began in January 2005; the judge, Mr Justice Mackay, has warned that it may take as long as a year. 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar and is the current year. ...
A key issue which the court will consider is the extent to which the poor condition of the rail was known in advance, and to consider any acts or failures to act that resulted.
- Anthony Walker (Balfour Beatty's rail maintenance director) and Nicholas Jeffries (its civil engineer), deny manslaughter.
- Railtrack's Alistair Cook and Sean Fugill (both asset managers for the London North-East zone), and track engineer Keith Lee, also deny manslaughter.
- All five men, along with four others, are also accused of breaches of health and safety laws.
- Balfour Beatty denies charges of corporate manslaughter: it faces this charge because it is alleged that Nicholas Jeffries was sufficiently senior that his acts were acts of omission of the company
- Network Rail denies charges under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act
See also This list is of railway accidents in Britain sorted chronologically. ...
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