Railway safety and crime

RAIB releases safety digest after Toton derailment

17.01.17: The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has issued a safety digest after an incident in Nottinghamshire last year in which a train ran away from its driver and travelled almost a kilometre along an independent goods line before coming off...

Vivarail: Cause of D-train fire ‘not immediately obvious’

16.01.17: Vivarail has completed its initial investigation into the Class 230 test train fire over the festive period, concluding that the cause of the fire is “not immediately obvious”. On 30 December 2016, ten members of Vivarail staff...

RAIB investigates fatal Sheffield tram accident

11.01.17: The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has decided to investigate a fatal accident just before Christmas in which a Sheffield man was killed by a tram. At around 10am on 22 December 2016 a pedestrian, who had just stepped off an inbo...

Network Rail fined £800,000 after Redhill injury incident

09.01.17: Network Rail has been fined £800,000 at Guildford Crown Court for breaching health and safety laws after a track worker sustained multiple ‘life changing’ injuries when he was hit by a train. The prosecution was brought by...

ORR joins RSSB in saying DOO services ‘can be operated safely’

05.01.17: The ORR has concluded that Govia Thameslink Railway’s (GTR’s) proposed use of driver-only operation (DOO) on its trains will allow services to operate safely, albeit once the plans have undergone slight improvements. DOO has bee...

Man killed at Bedfordshire level crossing

03.01.17: A man has been killed this morning after a train struck his car at Marston level crossing in Bedfordshire. British Transport Police (BTP) were called to the level crossing, near Lidlington station, just after 10am following reports that a c...

Vivarail test train catches fire over festive period as NUCKLE trial postponed

03.01.17: The trial of Vivarail’s innovative D-train on the Coventry to Nuneaton (NUCKLE) line has been postponed, as the firm’s test train caught fire over the festive season. Last Friday (30 December 2016) ten members of Vivarail staff...

RAIB reveals near-miss between pedestrian and Stansted Airport train

21.12.16: The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has decided to post safety digests into four incidents that took place on England’s railways in November, including a near-miss between a pedestrian and a passenger train on the way to Stansted...

Croydon tram crash survivors move to sue TfL and FirstGroup

12.12.16: Survivors of the Croydon tram crash are suing Transport for London (TfL) and FirstGroup for compensation over the trauma they suffered in the disaster. The incident on 9 November this year saw a speeding tram derail on a bend near Sandiland...

Ealing Broadway derailment due to miscommunication, RAIB finds

06.12.16: The RAIB has released its report into the derailment of a Tube train at Ealing Broadway station in March of this year, concluding that the accident was caused due to miscommunication between control room staff. At 1:29am on 2 March 2016, th...

Prosser: ‘Not ORR’s role’ to arbitrate in train company DOO disputes

30.11.16: Ian Prosser, the director of railway safety at the ORR, has reiterated his certainty that driver-only operated (DOO) services are safe and indicated that the regulator will not intervene in the dispute about DOO on Southern rail. The RMT, w...

RSSB insists DOO is safe in transport safety inquiry

29.11.16: The director of system safety at the RSSB, Dr George Bearfield, has defended the organisation’s decision to rate driver-only operated (DOO) services as safe to the Transport Select Committee. Louise Ellman MP, the head of the committe...

ORR advises RSSB to agree new settlement with members

29.11.16: The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) has advised the RSSB to agree a new settlement with its members in its five-yearly review of the rail standards body. The ORR consulted with RSSB members and industry groups to report on the RSSB’s st...

Train driver not at fault in Grimston Lane crossing fatality, RAIB concludes

21.11.16: The RAIB’s investigation into the death of an elderly pedestrian on a level crossing near Felixstowe launched earlier this year has found that the pedestrian was struck by the train after he started to cross the track when he had insuffici...

Using technology to reduce platform edge accident risk

18.11.16: RSSB’s safety management systems specialist Kevin Thompson explains how a new tool can help reduce safety risks at the platform edge. There are about 5,000 platforms on the British mainline train network. While our railway is one of t...