Jarvis back in spotlight after train derailment

Engineering firm Jarvis is back in the news for all the wrong reasons after a train was derailed outside one of the country's busiest stations yesterday (Tuesday).

The company, which is responsible for maintaining the track where the incident occurred, has admitted that work carried out on the line by its engineers may have been faulty.

After launching an immediate inquiry into the incident outside London's Kings Cross station, the company said: "It would appear that, after undertaking lengthy overnight rail maintenance work, the Jarvis maintenance team omitted to make the final disconnection on one of the points in question."

The company, already under investigation after the derailment of a train at Potters Bar in 2002 which killed seven people, said that derailment happened at low speed (10mph), and did not cause any injuries.

However, the incident seriously disrupted rail services from London to the north-east and Scotland, leaving transport secretary Alistair Darling incesnsed.

Safety campaigners are also expected to continue their battle for tougher controls on companies which win contracts to maintain public service infrastructure.