TRANSPORT police confirmed today that they may charge several people with corporate manslaughter following the Hatfield rail crash.

British Transport Police are understood to have taken away a number of files from the offices of Railtrack London North Eastern, based in York.

Police have already indicated they may want to charge individuals with unlawful killing for their alleged failure to take action over the cause of the crash - a broken rail. The police are expected to hand over their findings to Crown prosecutors within "weeks, not months".

And York-based train operator GNER could also come under fire in a Health and Safety Executive report into the crash due out tomorrow.

The HSE report is expected to raise a question over a faulty coupling on a GNER buffet car, and the speed at which the train was travelling - believed to be 2mph over the speed limit.

Police confirmed they have interviewed a number of senior employees at both Railtrack and contractors Balfour Beatty to determine the exact maintenance schedule of the track where the derailment happened.

A spokesman for Railtrack said: "We are assisting with the industry, HSE and any police inquiries."

When asked if Nick Pollard, the York-based zonal director responsible for the Hatfield stretch at the time of the crash, had been interviewed by police, the spokesman said: "Who is prosecuted is a matter for the CPS."

Ministers have ruled out a public inquiry into the crash, in which four people died.

The investigation into what happened has been left to the executive, which is currently carrying out a technical inquiry into the causes of the accident.

The executive said it was considering whether to bring separate charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Updated: 12:18 Wednesday, January 24, 2001