Publication
Abstract
On 28 February 2001 a vehicle came off the M62 motorway at Great Heck, near Selby, ran down the railway embankment and onto the East Coast Main Line, where it was struck by a passenger train. The passenger train was derailed and then struck by a freight train travelling in the opposite direction. 6 passengers and 4 staff on the trains were killed. The driver of the vehicle was found guilty of causing the deaths of 10 people by dangerous driving. The Deputy Prime Minister commissioned early reports about the crash from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and TRL Ltd (formerly the Transport Research Laboratory). HSE’s report made clear that the accident was considered to have resulted from a highly unlikely and unpredictable chain of events. TRL’s report showed that the safety barriers met the requirements of the national standard.
The Deputy Prime Minister was also concerned about the general issues this crash raised about the accidental incursion of road vehicles onto the railway. He asked the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) to convene a working group to look at the circumstances of incidents where vehicles have blocked rail lines and whether there are features in common that might have been preventable. Their report ‘Obstruction of the railway by road vehicles’ ISBN 07176 2294 0 was published on 25 February 2002. Copies are available from HSE books price £5.00 or to download at www.hse.gov.uk/railway/obstruct.pdf.
At the same time the Deputy Prime Minister asked the Highways Agency to review its standards for near side safety barriers. Their report ‘To review the standards for the provision of nearside safety fences on major roads’ was also published on 25 February 2002 and copies are available to download at www.highways.gov.uk.
These two reports contained 19 separate recommendations to Government. This report has been produced in response to those recommendations and sets out the steps we consider should be taken jointly by railway infrastructure authorities and highway authorities to manage the risk of the accidental incursion of road vehicles onto the railway. The steps have been drawn up by working groups containing representatives from the railway infrastructure authorities, highway authorities, Railway Safety, the Health and Safety Executive, the British Transport Police, the Welsh Assembly Government, the Scottish Executive, the Northern Ireland Roads Service, the Department for Transport and the Highways Agency. The members of the working groups are listed in appendix 1 of this report.
See Also
- Health and Safety Commision. Obstruction of the railway by road vehicles. (2002) HSE Books ISBN 0 7176 2294 0. pp.37
