‘Desperate bid’ to warn railway men of danger
Report reveals action before tragedy:
A REPORT into the deaths of two railway workers hit by a train has outlined the desperate efforts to warn them of the approaching train.
A group of six workers who had split into two teams were working on the line between Swansea and Bridgend on the morning of the incident.
Gareth Delbridge, 64, from Kenfig Hill, and Michael Lewis, 58, from North Cornelly, were working on the signals at Margam East Junction on July 3 when they were hit by a passenger train travelling from Swansea to London Paddington. A third worker came very close to being struck.
An interim report, released last week by the Rail Accident Investigation Board (RAIB) found that the three workers were “working on a line that was open to traffic, without the presence of formally appointed lookouts to warn them of approaching trains”.
It also found that there had been a “lack of understanding” of the paperwork that had been set up for the job.
The report looked at the desperate efforts of colleagues and the train driver to warn the team, who were wearing ear defenders because they were using noisy equipment.
The train had been travelling at 73mph, but the driver pulled on the emergency brakes and sounded the horn nine seconds before the accident.
As the train passed the other group of three workers, they sounded a horn they were carrying and tried shouting as they moved faster towards their colleague.
The report found: “Working on an open line without a formally appointed lookout meant that no single individual stood apart from the work activity at the points with the sole responsibility of providing a warning when trains approached.
“The absence of a lookout with no involvement in the work activity removed a vital safety barrier.”
It found that there was a “general lack of understanding” of the planning paperwork that had been set up for the work on the line.
It said: “The plan for the work at Margam East Junction provided no clarity on the safe system of work that should be adopted for each element of work.
“It provided two parallel safe systems of work, a line blockage on the up main line with a parallel safe system of work, based on unassisted lookout warning, on the down main line.
“However, the document could also be reasonably interpreted as also allowing work on the up main line using unassisted lookout warning.
“This lack of clarity and understanding may have allowed the planner, supervisors and workers to believe that they had freedom to choose the system of work the group should adopt, rather than working to the plan and the times of the planned blockages.”
Earlier this year, Network Rail’s interim report of its initial findings into what happened also found that a person looking out for approaching trains, known as a distant lookout, had not been deployed that morning.
The weather at the time of the accident was bright and sunny with good visibility, but it found that there was “insufficient visibility of approaching trains in the area for a single site lookout to provide an adequate warning time for the work”.
The RAIB is responsible for conducting independent investigations into railway accidents in the UK.
Its investigation into this incident is ongoing, and this is just its first report.
In a previous statement, the families said: “The profound effect that these men’s deaths have had on the communities of Kenfig Hill and Cornelly was shown by the vast number of people who came to both funerals to pay their last respects.
“Family and friends, work colleagues, neighbours, club members as well as everyone else who attended made both days incredibly special and the boys if they were still here, would have been proud.”
The families have been raising money for Wales Air Ambulance in their memory.
A number of concurrent investigations have been launched into how the incident took place.
In July an accident report by the government revealed that colleagues had tried to warn the men of the approaching train.