Little Cornard derailment

Little Cornard derailment
Details
Date 17 August 2010
Time 17:35
Location Little Cornard
Coordinates TL 885 390
52°01′4.18″N 0°44′46.91″E / 52.0178278°N 0.7463639°ECoordinates: 52°01′4.18″N 0°44′46.91″E / 52.0178278°N 0.7463639°E
Country England
Rail line Gainsborough Line
Cause Line obstructed by road vehicle
Statistics
Trains 1
Passengers About 25
Injuries 23 (5 serious)
List of UK rail accidents by year
A Class 156 DMU similar to the one involved in the crash.

The Little Cornard derailment occurred on 17 August 2010 when a Class 156 diesel multiple unit collided with a road vehicle on a level crossing at Little Cornard, Suffolk and then derailed. The train driver and 22 passengers were injured, five of them seriously. The vehicle driver was subsequently jailed and disqualified from driving for causing the accident.

Accident

At 17:37 BST (16:37 UTC),[1] Class 156 Super Sprinter diesel multiple unit 156 417 was involved in a collision with a lorry on a level crossing on the railway between Sudbury and Bures stations.[2] The lorry was proceeding from the sewage works towards the B1508 road.[3] The train was operating the 17:31 service from Sudbury to Marks Tey.[4] At the time of the accident, the train was travelling at between 50 and 60 miles per hour (80 and 100 km/h).[5] The train derailed as a result of the collision, which also overturned the lorry.[4] Although the driver managed to warn passengers of an imminent collision,[6] 23 people were injured.[2] The driver of the train and four of the passengers were seriously injured.[7] The Essex Air Ambulance attended the scene with two doctors (Dr Adam Chesters, who would act as medical incident officer, and Dr Imogen Bowring who would treat injured casualties at the scene) and a paramedic on board. This aircraft was later used to transfer one patient to Colchester General Hospital and one patient to Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge. The driver suffered a broken back and the passenger sustained injuries that were described as "life-threatening". He was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital by the East Anglian Air Ambulance, which sent one helicopter to the scene.[2][3] On 18 August, he was scheduled to be transferred to a specialist hospital in London,[3] but this did not happen and he remained at Addenbrooke's as of 19 August.[8] Six victims of the accident were detained overnight in Colchester General Hospital and a seventh was detained overnight at the West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St Edmunds.[3] One of those detained in hospital was released on 18 August.[8]

Location

The gated level crossing is on a private road leading to a sewage works owned by Anglian Water.[1] It is classed as a "user-worked crossing" and a telephone is provided to enable users to check with the signalman whether or not it is safe to cross the line. Network Rail stated that no telephone call was received from the driver of the lorry before the accident occurred.[4]

Aftermath

The line between Marks Tey and Sudbury was closed until 21:50 hrs on 19 August 2010.[7] Apart from the damage to rolling stock and track, a culvert collapsed.[1] British Transport Police arrested the lorry driver, who was questioned in connection with several alleged offences, and later charged with "endangering the safety of the railway". The wreckage of the lorry was removed from the line in the early hours of 18 August,[2] but a 130-tonne crane had to be brought in to remove the derailed train, which was eventually removed at 04:30 on 19 August and taken by road to Milton Keynes for repairs.[8] The lorry driver appeared before magistrates at Bury St Edmunds on 20 August and was remanded on conditional bail to appear again on 1 October.[5] On 29 October, at Ipswich Crown Court, the lorry driver pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of railway passengers. He was granted conditional bail.[9] On 26 November, the lorry driver was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court to 15 months imprisonment for endangering safety on the railway. He was also disqualified from driving for three years.[10]

Reactions

Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT Union, called the accident "avoidable" and called for a programme to eliminate all level crossings from the British railway network.[11] Keith Norman, general secretary of ASLEF said that he was saddened that lessons had not been learned from previous accidents, and criticised Network Rail for failing to modernise many level crossings.[12]

Investigation

British Transport Police opened an investigation into the events before the accident,[2] which will centre on whether or not Anglian Water gave proper training to visitors to the sewage works in relation to the correct use of the level crossing.[1] The Rail Accident Investigation Branch opened an investigation into the accident itself.[7]

The report of the investigation was published in August 2011. It concluded that the primary cause of the accident was that the lorry driver drove onto the crossing when it was unsafe to do so. Although he was aware that he should contact the signalman by telephone before and after crossing, he did not call before starting to cross. A lack of track circuits on the line meant that sometimes users of the level crossing faced a wait of up to 19 minutes before being given permission to cross. On one occasion, a wait of 36 minutes was recorded. Although drivers were required to obtain permission to cross, this was only done about 30% of the time. Network Rail had failed to involve Anglian Water and other authorised users of the crossing in the triennial risk assessment of the crossing. This was deemed to be an underlying cause of the accident. The design of the tables used in Class 156 units was deemed to have contributed to a number of serious injuries, although the train itself was deemed to have met its design specification in respect of the collision. The signage at the crossing was deemed to give unclear information and thus a contributory factor. As a result of the accident, telephones at the crossing were moved so that a driver did not need to open the gates to access the telephones. Miniature stop lights were to be introduced, and track circuits may also be introduced on the Mark's Tey – Sudbury line. Anglian Water ceased using outside contractors to remove sludge from the sewage works. Six recommendations were made in the report.[7]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Passenger suffers 'life-threatening injuries' after level crossing crash". Rail (Bauer Media) (Issue 651, 25 August – 7 September 2010): p12.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Train passenger 'stable' after Suffolk crossing crash". BBC News Online. 18 August 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "New pictures: Investigation starts into rail crash horror". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Suffolk train and lorry level crossing smash injures 21". BBC News Online. 17 August 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Driver of sewage tanker in Suffolk train crash in court". BBC News Online. 20 August 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  6. ↑ "Hero driver 'may have saved many lives'". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 "Collision between an articulated tanker and a passenger train at Sewage Works Lane user worked crossing, near Sudbury, Suffolk 17 August 2010". Rail Accidents Investigation Board. Retrieved 13 August 2011.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Driver of sewage tanker in Suffolk train crash charged". BBC News Online. 19 August 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2010.
  9. ↑ "Lorry driver admits causing train crash". Ipswich Evening Star. 29 October 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  10. ↑ "Suffolk train crash tanker driver jailed". BBC News Online. 26 November 2010. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
  11. ↑ "Wreckage To Be Moved After Rail Crash". Sky News. Retrieved 18 August 2010.
  12. ↑ Howarth, Angus. "Derailment sparks fresh level crossing safety fears". The Scotsman. Retrieved 19 August 2010.