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RAIB investigation after train collides with boom at Barrow-on-Soar

A collision at Barrow-on-Soar in which a member of the railway staff was seriously injured after an East Midlands passenger train collided with a wagon boom is being investigated by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB).

The accident happened at around 10.30am on 14 February, when the boom of the wagon, which was loaded with aggregates, was hanging over the line at the Barrow-on-Soar sidings while the wagon was prepared for service.

The 10:20 train from Leicester to York, consisting of a seven car class 222 diesel multiple unit, hit the boom at 102mph, below the maximum speed on the line of 110mph.

But a member of staff, who had been working on the wagon, was badly injured and taken to hospital by air ambulance. No passengers were hurt but the driver was badly shaken and both the boom and the front of the train were damaged.

This is the second East Midlands accident at the sidings, after a train struck a footbridge, leading to the driver needing hospital treatment for injuries.

RAIB’S investigation will examine the sequence of events leading up to and during the collision, the preparation and maintenance work that was being carried out on the wagon, the procedures which govern this work and any underlying management issues.

Their most recent safety investigation, into a serious accident at West Wickham last year where a passenger’s backpack strap was caught in a train door, has led to rolling stock owners reviewing door opening systems.