Pensioner died in signals error
AN ELDERLY woman was killed by a train when walking on the tracks after a “fatigued” signaller put warnings to drivers at the wrong location.
Beryl Morgan, 87, of Bryncae, died on June 1 last year.
AN ELDERLY woman was killed by a train when walking on the tracks after a “fatigued” signaller put warnings to drivers at the wrong location.
Beryl Morgan, 87, of Bryncae, near Pontyclun, died on June 1 last year after being struck and fatally injured by a train at the Trenos footpath crossing near Llanharan.
Warnings had been issued to drivers regarding a pedestrian on the tracks after Ms Morgan was spotted by the driver of an earlier train and by a dog walker who moved her to safety. But due to out-ofdate and misleading information shown on a display screen, the signaller put warnings in the wrong location and it is also believed the signaller’s actions were influenced by fatigue.
A report published by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) on Monday, concluded that cautioning the train in accordance with railway rules could have prevented the death.
At 3.31pm on the day of the incident, a train driver observed a pedestrian crossing slowly ahead of his train at the Trenos footpath crossing.
The driver sounded the train’s horn and train was stopped. The train’s guard spoke to the pedestrian and came to the conclusion she was at immediate risk. The pedestrian moved off the crossing and resumed her journey.
The driver of the train contacted a signaller to say they had come across a pedestrian on the track who “seemed confused”.
Due to the location of the crossing, the Port Talbot signaller was in- formed who mistakenly came to the conclusion that the footpath referred to was at Llanharan station, the closest crossing to the signalling boundary shown on his display screen.
The Port Talbot signaller put signals either side of Llanharan station to red to caution trains, but these were the wrong signals to caution drivers approaching the Trenos footpath.
Two minutes after putting the signals to red, the signaller cleared them to green, restoring the service to normal.
Shortly before the accident, a dog walker had seen Ms Morgan standing on the crossing and walked down to move her to safety behind the pedestrian gate.
She had a short conversation with Ms Morgan, whose family she knew, and continued her walk. Shortly afterwards, she became concerned and telephoned a member of Ms Morgan’s family to tell them where she was.
At 3.49pm, a train driver approaching the Trenos footpath saw a pedestrian walking onto the crossing from the left side of the track and repeatedly sounded his horn. He applied the emergency break but the train struck the pedestrian, later identified as Ms Morgan, after she failed to move clear.
An inquest into Ms Morgan’s death took place at Aberdare Coroner’s Court on February 26 and 27 this year where a jury returned a verdict of accidental death.
An investigation into Ms Morgan’s death by RAIB came to the conclusion that had the train which struck Ms Morgan been cautioned, it’s possible the accident may have been avoided.
It was concluded that the signaller’s decision making may have been influenced by fatigue after he had informed his manger after the incident that he had four hours sleep the night before the accident.
They also said that graphical information provided on the signaller’s display was out of date and misleading
In its recommendations, the RAIB said Network Rail Wales Route should “check that signaller’s displays for level crossings accurately reflect changes to level crossing arrangements made since the displays were designed”.
They also identified key learning points including staff undertaking safety critical roles to arrange their off-duty time to get sufficient sleep before the start of a shift and to inform managers if fatigue could prevent them from undertaking their duties safely.