Accident Compensation Claims

________________________________________________________________

Paddington rail crash company loses franchise

April 2004

Thames Trains, the company involved in the Paddington Rail Crash has lost its National Rail Network franchise. Its services were taken over by First Great Western on April 1.  The rail crash left 31 people dead, and hundreds injured five years ago.

A public inquiry into the Paddington crash leveled severe criticism at Thames Trains. Lord Cullen's report in 2001 accused the company of having a "slack and less than adequate" safety culture, with significant failures of communication. Thames Trains is a division of Go-Ahead Group, which made profits of £65m last year and has two other franchises - South Central and Thameslink. 

The Paddington crash sparked a review of railway safety which culminated in a decision to install a £3.5bn hi-tech protection system across the national network to prevent trains from passing through red lights. But installation of the system is running late and is not likely to be in place in time for Lord Cullen's recommended deadline of 2010.

Steve Walker, the HSE's assistant chief inspector of railways, said "much had been done" since 1999 to make sure that a similar accident could not happen again.

Copyright 2003