13.04.16
Manchester accident shows dangers of trams in pedestrian areas – RAIB
More awareness is needed of the risks of pedestrians and trams sharing space, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has said in a report into a collision which seriously injured a pedestrian in Manchester last year.
The type M5000 tram hit the pedestrian at 11.13am on 12 May 2015, 25m to the south east of Market Street tram station after he walked across the tracks.
The report says that the nature of the Market Street and Piccadilly Gardens stop, where tram tracks are laid on the pavement, means that passengers walk freely across the tracks instead of using the tactile pavement by the tracks.
It recommends that Metrolink RATP Dev Ltd (MRDL) review risk mitigation proceedings in the area and that UK Tram provide revised guidance with explicit recommendations for spaces where pedestrians and trams share space.
The driver also failed to apply the brakes in time, possibly because he was distracted. The report says that the driver had been involved in four road traffic collisions and four operating incidents since he joined MRDL in 2003, although he had been ruled not to blame for five of these incidents.
The RAIB also criticises MRDL for allowing the tram driver to drive a van back to the depot after the accident.
It recommends that MRDL improve its process of providing for staff who have been involved in potentially traumatic incidents.
It also says that MRDL did not identify the serious nature of the accident for more than three weeks afterwards and does not conduct periodic reviews of driver performance, but does not make any recommendations in those areas.