Survivors of the Hatfield rail crash joined those bereaved by the tragedy to mark its 20th anniversary.
The four passengers killed when an express train derailed on October 17, 2000 were remembered in a service at St Etheldreda’s Church in the Hertfordshire town.
The Hatfield crash was among a spate of fatal accidents on Britain’s railways.
The victims were Steve Arthur, 46, from Pease Pottage, West Sussex; Peter Monkhouse, 50, of Leeds; Leslie Gray, 43, of Tuxford, Nottinghamshire; and Robert James Alcorn, 37, of Auckland, New Zealand.
The network’s safety record has vastly improved since that period.
Father Darren Collins, who was due to conduct the service on Saturday, October 17, told PA: “It was heart-breaking at the time, and the town wants to remember the lives that were lost and the lives that were changed forever.”
Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, claimed the crash – which was caused by a broken rail – was “a constant reminder of the failure of rail privatisation”.
He said: “The takeover of Britain’s rail infrastructure by publicly owned Network Rail took the profit motive out of maintaining and running our tracks, and since then safety standards have dramatically improved. But we must remain vigilant.”
