Jarvis Strikes Again

A year after the derailment at Potter's Bar, for which dodgy maintenance remains the prime suspect, we have another prang on the East Coast Main Line. This time, the locomotive and front two coaches of a GNER express for Glasgow derailed leaving Kings Cross station in London. Fortunately this time nobody was killed or injured, but trains services are seriously up the spout at Kings Cross this morning, with something like six platforms blocked. Again the accusing finger points at dodgy maintenance of pointwork, and at the same maintenance contractor, Jarvis.

Update: Jarvis have pleaded guilty M'lud. Amazing footage on Channel 4 news tonight of them attempting to drag the derailed class 91 locomotive with an EWS class 67. They'd connected up the brake hoses, and used a long chain to couple the locos together. The chain promply parted. I'm not quite sure what they were attempting to do; my best guess is they were trying to move the derailed loco to a point clear of the damaged track where it could be rerailed by heavy jacks. Bringing in a big crane would require the isolation and possible removal of the overhead catenery, which would prevent them from using other platforms in the station.

One incident is bad luck, two looks like carelessness. Sell your Jarvis shares, chaps!