Driver died as he walked between trains at city depot
AN INVESTIGATION into the death of a train driver at a Birmingham depot has highlighted safety failings by West Midlands Trains (WMT).
The man was killed when he was trapped between two trains at Tyseley maintenance depot in Birmingham on December 14 last year, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said.
Depot operator WMT “had not adequately considered the hazards faced by drivers” at such sites and its management “had not promoted safe working practices”, investigators said in a report.
These were found to be “underlying factors” in the accident.
The driver, who was not named by the RAIB, was walking between the trains when one of them was moved by another driver, trapping him and causing fatal injuries.
The victim had not used one of the depot’s “safe routes” for walking, while the other driver did not sound a warning prior to moving the train as “local instructions did not require this”, the RAIB found.
Investigators made two safety recommendations, both relating to WMT.
The firm was urged to carry out “effective assessments” of the risks to people working in depots, and to review its processes to ensure
“unsafe working identified.
WMT operates trains under the West Midlands Railway and London Northwestern Railway brands. Simon French, Chief Inspector of Rail Accidents, said: “We found that the department within the train operating company responsible for managing train crew and the department responsible for the servicing and maintenance of trains were not working well together.
“The death of any member of railway staff on duty is a tragedy. This sad accident highlights how dangerous depots and sidings can be. When I started on the railway in 1982 one of the first things that was drummed into me was to take care around vehicles, and to only go under or between vehicles when you were quite sure they were not going to move. That is as true now as it was then.”
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