A derailed train last year and two worker deaths have been sources of criticism for Network Rail
Network rail has been warned in a final report released regarding a train derailing incident that took place last year, and a separate report has been released on an incident that cost two rail workers their lives in 2019.
The former has resulted in a strong warning to the company, while the latter has resulted in a fine of £3.75m and costs of £175,000.
Two workers died while performing maintenance in Wales
The two workers, Michael Lewis and Gareth Delbridge, were working on a live railway line without necessary safety precautions such as a lookout or a line block. A third worker was also present and avoided the train.
The Office of Rail and Road have investigated the incident which took place on 3 July 2019, in Margam. They found that there were various significant safety issues within Network Rail, and deemed the company to be failing to safeguard workers when it comes to live tracks.
Network Rail had previously been served improvement notices in December 2018. after incidents of near-misses.
As a result, the company has now been fined £3.75m and ordered to pay £175,000 in costs. The company has also claimed to have since improved its approach to worker safety, by halting most work to live tracks, as well as adopting new safety technologies. In spite of this, two incidents resulting in the deaths of two track workers have taken place in 2020 and 2021.
In 2023, another worker was crushed by a railway track weighing six tons. HSE determined Network Rail to have inadequate safety measures, and fined the company £1.2m.
Network Rail has now set up a dedicated track worker safety force to overhaul operational practices.
Network Rail and contracter Colas Rail have been warned over derailing incident
On 04 March 2024, a passenger train was derailed after striking a section of redundant rail left out by a prior work team. The train was travelling at 85mph, causing th front coach to derail and the train came to a stop 500m beyond the point where the redundant track was left.
The cause of the track being left out was identified as the work team having nobody supervising their work and an inadequate briefing for the track handback engineer before track inspection.
An investigation by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) determined that the risk was not adequately or properly managed, and that the inspection process did not properly notify inspectors on which sections of track were to be checked.
As a result, the RAIB has sent warnings to Colas Rail (the firm to which the workers belong) about leaving material out when work has finished, and to Network Rail about their supervision, co-ordination, and inspection processes.
Andrew Hall, chief inspector of Rail Accidents said: “Following a passenger train striking redundant rail on the track in 2018, RAIB issued Urgent Safety Advice to Network Rail regarding safety of the line after engineering work.
“Since this advice was issued, RAIB has examined a number of further accidents caused by objects, including temporary road-rail access points and a trolley, being left on the track after the completion of maintenance work. These accidents caused damage to the railway infrastructure, the trains involved and resulted in temporary closures to the affected lines. This most recent accident at Walton-on-Thames resulted in a passenger train derailing at speed. Although no one was hurt on this occasion, the train could easily have deviated from the line of the track and struck other trains or objects.
“Maintenance work is often carried out at night which makes ensuring the line is subsequently safe for the passage of trains particularly challenging. The risk is very clear. Unfortunately, this accident happened because that risk was not effectively managed. This, following other similar recent incidents, should serve as a stark reminder of the importance of effectively managing the risk of objects being left on the track after overnight maintenance.”
