Excessive speed caused Logan crash, says RAIB’s investigation report

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has said that the collision between two freight trains in an engineering possession near Logan on August 1, 2015 was caused by the fact that the moving train was travelling too fast to stop short of the stationary freight train that it struck.

At approximately 1104 the 0917 Carlisle Yard-New Cumnock, hauled by 66428 and comprising 36 ‘coalfish’ wagons, entered the possession at New Cumnock, with the driver authorised to take the train approximately three miles to the start of a track renewal site near Logan. At 1111 it hit the rear of the 0703 Carlisle Yard-New Cumnock at 28mph, derailing the locomotive and seven wagons from the moving train and 11 wagons from the stationary train. The maximum speed in the work site was 5mph.

The RAIB recommends implementing a method of formally recording the information briefed to drivers about making train movements in possessions and work sites, and investigating the practicalities of driving freight trains in possessions and work sites for long distances at slow speeds.

Three learning points were identified:

■ The importance of providing drivers with all of the information they need to carry out movements in possessions and work sites safely.

■ A reminder to provide drivers (before they start a driving duty) with information about how and when they will be relieved.

■ The importance of engineering staff giving instructions to drivers through face-to-face conversations, when it is safe and practicable to do so.

Chief Inspector of Rail Accidents Simon French said that he hoped RAIB’s recommendations would lead to an evaluation of the practical steps that can be taken to reduce the length of work sites, and the human factors that may influence the behaviour of drivers and their ability to drive trains at an appropriate speed in work sites and possessions.

French added that new ways of monitoring the performance of drivers in work sites and possessions should also be investigated.

“Train movements within work sites and possessions are not regulated by normal railway signalling systems – which is why special care is needed to make sure that trains are always able to stop in the distance that the driver can see to be clear, and that communications between drivers and engineering staff are precise and mutually understood,” he said.

“In the past ten years there have been six significant collisions between trains in work sites. A number of recommendations have been made by RAIB to address the ways that movements of trains in work sites are regulated, and ways of ensuring clear and accurate communications. Although I am disappointed that these recommendations have not yet led to substantive action to fix the problem, I am encouraged to see that the railway industry has now decided to reconsider some of the issues.