Railway safety and crime

Passenger fatalities increase for second year running

04.12.17: The number of rail passenger fatalities has increased for the second year in a row, according to a report published this week.  The ORR’s annual Rail Statistics Compendium, has revealed that 2016-17 saw the deaths of 15 rail passenge...

NR at fault for ‘potentially disastrous’ Liverpool Lime Street wall collapse

30.11.17: Investigators have found that Network Rail was partially at fault for a wall that collapsed onto open railway lines earlier this year. Services at Liverpool Lime Street ground to a halt earlier this year when the wall collapsed over all fou...

Southeastern fined £2.5m after cleaner is electrocuted on live rail

20.11.17: Southeastern Trains along with a company contracted to clean its trains have been fined following the death of a cleaner three years ago. The prosecution, which was brought about by the Office of Rail and Road, has resulted in a £2.5m fin...

Rail risk: reality and perception

17.11.17: George Bearfield, director of system safety and health at the RSSB, looks at risk – reality and perception – and how the industry needs to preserve its sound risk-based approach to safety as we consider a more automated future. ...

What next for safety?

09.11.17: As rail businesses edge towards their target of zero injuries, improving safety performance can plateau. Amey’s sector director for rail, Lee Jones, explains how embracing tech, smart data and human science could help the infrastructure pr...

Cyber security vital after four attacks on Britain’s rail network last year

07.11.17: Digital technology must play a part in improving organisational resilience and reducing passenger safety risk, a leading rail industry figure has stated. Speaking at Rail Network Resilience 2017 last week, Arup’s resilience, security and...

Ian Prosser: Safety by design

02.11.17: Ian Prosser, the ORR’s chief inspector of railways and director of railway safety, outlines to RTM’s Josh Mines the key challenges facing rail organisations in improving health and safety standards. Keeping passengers and worker...

RAIB: ‘Bad habits’ creeping in on renewals work almost caused fatal collision

30.10.17: The RAIB has released its report into a serious irregularity which occurred at Cardiff East Junction in December 2016 which could have caused trains to collide with each other. The incident occurred whilst Network Rail carried out extensive re...

Industry-wide update on platform safety

18.10.17: New guidance on platform safety standards have been released by the RSSB. Industry-wide measures have been updated and collectively agreements have been reached on platform safety in order to stop passengers getting hurt. The RSSB issu...

ScotRail to spend £2.6m clearing leaves off tracks in autumn

03.10.17: ScotRail is set to invest £2.6m in clearing the tracks of leaves this autumn as part of a larger programme of works to keep its passengers moving whatever the weather. Though falling leaves seem harmless, they can actually cause consi...

Stagecoach takes action following fatal Sheffield collision probe

27.09.17: The RAIB has issued a report following an investigation into a fatal collision with a pedestrian in December 2016. The pedestrian was using the crossing at the northern end of Woodbourn Road tram stop when they were struck by the tram as it...

Secure stations

25.09.17: Gary Heward, director at MFD International and a security consultant and member of the Register of Security Engineers and Specialists, managed by the Institution of Civil Engineers on behalf of the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastru...

What role does smart security have in safer rail?

08.09.17: Carl Pocknell, head of engineering at Panasonic System Solutions Europe, discusses the role of video analytics in keeping transport hubs safe and operating efficiently. Despite there being over five million CCTV cameras in the UK, most surv...

Thieves make off with £90,000 of copper wire from railway in Staffordshire

16.08.17: Thieves have stolen more than £90,000 worth of copper wire from the railway over the past six weeks in Staffordshire, Network Rail has today stated. Around 3,650 metres of copper cable was removed by criminals, and police believe that...

NR served with nearly £5m worth of health and safety fines in 2016-17

10.08.17: The rate of improvement in health and safety on the rail network has “plateaued”, the ORR has stated. It was also revealed that over the course of the last year, Network Rail paid out almost £5m in fines for three separate inci...