Rail minister Lord Hendy apologises for Euston letter

The rail minister has apologised for suggesting Network Rail may withhold contracts from a company employing an engineer who described Euston station as “unsafe”.

Lord Hendy said the tone of his letter to consultancy Systra UK “fell well short of what should be expected”.

In his previous role as Network Rail chairman, he wrote to the company’s chief executive Nick Salt in May in relation to a media interview by railway engineer Gareth Dennis.

He asked Mr Salt “what action are you taking?” in relation to Mr Dennis, who claimed Euston is sometimes “unsafe” because of overcrowding.

The penultimate sentence of his letter stated: “Finding a potential supplier criticising a possible client reflects adversely on your likelihood of doing business with us or our supply chain.”

Mr Dennis was subsequently sacked by Systra UK.

In his first public comments on the issue since it emerged in August, Lord Hendy told the Railway Industry Association’s annual conference in central London: “There was a sentence at the end (of the letter) where the tone of it fell well short of what should be expected, and for that I apologise.

“And what I would say is that no contractor has or will be penalised for employees raising concerns about safety, whether they raise them through NR (Network Rail), ORR (Office of Rail and Road) or DfT (Department for Transport) for that matter, or confidentially through Ciras (a confidential safety hotline for transport) if that’s what they want to do.

“The employment decisions about the person concerned are a matter for his employer.”

In response, Mr Dennis accused Lord Hendy of “only apologising … to calm the anger of a supply chain he was seemingly willing to threaten and cajole”.

He added: “He is not apologising for the harm he has caused me or the damage he has caused to the rail industry’s public reputation.

“I still don’t have a job, because he had me sacked at a time when roles in rail engineering are few and far between, and because his act has made potential employers wary.

“Only a full and frank apology can reverse some of that damage.

“For the rail industry to be confident that its safety culture doesn’t take second place to reputational culture, he needs to make an unequivocal apology for his letter and for having me removed from my job.”

On September 26 last year, the ORR issued an improvement notice to Network Rail in relation to Euston, accusing the Government-owned company of failing to prevent safety risks from “unacceptable” overcrowding.

The ORR found Network Rail “complied” with the notice on December 15 2023 by implementing measures to “manage passenger traffic flows and overcrowding”, but concerns about the station continued.

London TravelWatch said in early October that “last-minute announcements” caused passengers to “rush to platforms”, and staff “appear overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of people”.

Later that month, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh ordered Network Rail to review its management of the station, as the experience of passengers “simply hasn’t been good enough”.

This led to a large screen – which had been converted from a departures board to an advertising board – being turned off, and passengers being able to board some services earlier.