Safety matters
The Office of Rail & Road and HRA answer our questions
Prior to the Stonehaven accident on August 12, in which three people tragically lost their lives, Britain’s main line railways had gone for 13 years without a fatal derailment. Considering the density of the rail network, the vast amount of train journeys taken and the millions of passengers carried, that is a remarkable safety record. Never before in their history have Britain’s railways enjoyed so long a period of passenger safety.
An equally remarkable record – arguably more so, perhaps – is that held by the nation’s heritage railways; at no point in our nigh-on 70-year history has a passenger lost his or her life as a result of a derailment or similar accident.
But before we get carried away, let’s not forget that, in recent years, there have been a number of extremely close shaves – such as the 2015 Wootton Bassett SPAD and 2017’s South Devon Railway toilet floor incident in which, had good fortune not intervened, passengers would very likely have lost their lives and the repercussions across the entire industry would have been keenly felt.
And now, the Office of Rail & Road has identified major concerns – including lack of proper Safety Management Systems (SMS), staff training and competencies, and proper governance and leadership – at a number of preserved railways, some of which have voluntarily suspended services until these problems are addressed.
But are these merely isolated cases, or the tip of a worrying iceberg? Health and safety might be anathema to many enthusiasts who would understandably rather focus on the heritage side of preserved railways, but it would only take one serious accident to place the whole of our industry in jeopardy.
For that reason, Steam Railway sat down with the ORR’s head of heritage, trams & light rail, Ian Skinner, Heritage Railway Association CEO Steve Oates and HRA vice-chairman and North Yorkshire Moors Railway general manager Chris Price, for a wide-ranging interview exploring safety matters.
Steam Railway: As the ORR itself has said, you are paying more attention to the heritage industry, so what prompted the latest round of inspections exactly?
Ian Skinner: I took on the post of assistant chief inspector in charge of heritage, light railways and trams in April 2018, and I wanted to increase our visibility to the heritage sector to help it