Two railway staff killed by train they couldn’t hear

TWO railway workers killed by a train yesterday could not hear it coming because they were wearing ear defenders, police said.

The tragedy comes after the Rail Accident Investigation Branch warned of ‘too many near misses in which workers have to jump for their lives’.

There was one death on mainline railways last year and 6,641 injuries, of which 164 were major.

The Network Rail staff killed yesterday were struck just before 10am near Port Talbot, South Wales, by the 9.29am service from Swansea to London Paddington.

British Transport Police said the men were 58 and 64. Another colleague was treated for shock.

Superintendent Andy Morgan said: ‘The initial stages of the invesers tigation suggest that the two men who died had been wearing ear defenders at the time and, tragically, could not hear the passenger train approaching.’

Train operator Great Western Railway (GWR) said around 180 passengers were on board.

The firm said the accident would cause major disruption, adding: ‘Everyone at GWR is incredibly saddened to learn that two railway colleagues lost their lives.’

Passengers were kept on the train for more than two hours before being evacuated and taken away on buses. One said the train came to an abrupt stop moments after leaving Port Talbot Parkway.

Speaking while on board, he said: ‘We weren’t sure what was happening, but a train manager came through and said the railway workhad been hit. We are going to be here for some time. We can see a large number of emergency service vehicles.’

Another said there was no discernable impact, adding: ‘There was no indication that anyone had been struck. Nobody on the train saw anybody get hit. The train is quite calm. There was no bang.’

A railway worker said signallers had not been told that the men were on the line, adding: ‘The driver immediately called in the accident saying he had struck the workers and ambulances were called.

‘A signal worker didn’t know they were there. It could be that they hadn’t notified the right people.

‘There have been a lot of near misses on the tracks recently with contractors working on the line.’

Track maintenance workers are highly paid because of the dangers from trains passing at more than 100mph. An engineer who has worked on the same stretch of track said: ‘It can be very dangerous, there have been previous tragedies. Lads can pick up a lot of money, but it is very risky.’

Bill Kelly, of Network Rail, said it was ‘shocked and distressed’. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch and the Office of Rail and Road were at the scene last night.

Mick Cash, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, demanded a suspension of the type of work the victims had been carrying out.

He said: ‘No one working on the railway should be placed in the situation that has resulted in the deaths that have been reported.’

Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association union, added: ‘ It is simply not acceptable that in the 21st century people go out to work and end up losing their lives.’

‘There have been a lot of near misses’