Safety & Standards Board for heritage railways next year

A DEDICATED Rail Safety & Standards Board for preserved lines being set up by the Heritage Railway Association is expected to be active next year.

The preservation trade body is planning to create a wholly owned subsidiary company to take on the roles of producing a common set of safety standards, guidance and competencies for steam railways, and monitoring the sector's safety performance.

It will also be responsible for discussing safety issues and publishing urgent safety information, and assisting railways in setting up and auditing safety management systems.

HRA CEO Steve Oates said: “We've got the scope of what the board will look like, and we're expecting it to be operable by August or September next year.”

It was first proposed following concerns raised in late 2019 about a rise in the number of incidents reported on preserved lines, and the realisation that the heritage sector is now the only part of the railway industry without a safety and standards board.

At that time, Steve described it as a proactive move, saying: “Every other safety and standards board has been set up following some major incident. Thankfully, we haven't had one – but we realised that as a responsible sector, we need to move up a gear.”

He cited the example of the Sandilands tram derailment of November 2016, which prompted the establishment of such a board for the tramway industry.

Funding discussed

Drawn up in conjunction with the Office of Rail and Road, a scoping document and business plan for the new heritage body has been approved by the HRA board.

Discussions are now taking place with the Department for Culture, Media & Sport and the Department for Transport about how the organisation can be funded.

Steve explained: “The way we and the ORR have approached it is that we're part of the heritage sector and visitor economy, which sits firmly under the DCMS.

“However, in the majority of cases, we're also defined as bona fide public transport and regulated by the ORR, which comes directly under the DfT.

“In our discussions with the DCMS, they have taken that on board, but I can't say much more at the moment. We will also be looking for some seed funding from the heritage movement.”

It is envisaged that the board will consist of a small number of full-time staff, but with a large proportion of its work to be undertaken by outside experts, and that it will cost an estimated £500,000 to £600,000 a year to run.

Meanwhile, a similar, but separate, plan by the HRA to create a code of practice for maintaining carriages has been delayed by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Carriages Code of Practice is being drawn up by North Yorkshire Moors Railway traction and rolling stock manager Paul Middleton and the East Lancashire Railway's head of traction and rolling stock, Lee Kenny. It will provide guidelines and recommendations on subjects such as fitness-to-run examinations, and the intervals at which items such as the brake gear should be inspected.

Mk.1s in focus

It was prompted by an incident in 2017 at the South Devon Railway, when a Mk.1 coach was in service with one of its toilet floors missing.

The code will therefore initially focus on the 1950s BR stock, but will later be extended to cover woodenbodied and narrow gauge vehicles.

However, said Steve: “Lee was furloughed, along with two or three other people who were going to assist, and while Paul was one of the few staff still active at the NYMR, he had enough other work to do.

“We're regretful that we haven't been able to progress it, but we were relying on a few talented guys who were keen to take it on.

“We do need to pick it up again, but most of the HRA's efforts have been concentrated on the safety and standards board.”