DISASTERS ARE RARE... BUT THE RISK IS GROWING
YESTERDAY’S tragic accident at Stonehaven resulted in the first passenger deaths on Britain’s rail network in more than 13 years. That travelling by train is still far safer than using the car – there are an average of five deaths every day on our roads – will come as little comfort to the family and friends of those who were killed.
And for the railway industry, Stonehaven will serve as a cruel reminder that in the 21st century, new, unpredictable threats are emerging to challenge Britain’s record for having one of the safest systems in the world.
In the aftermath of rail privatisation in the mid-1990s, devastating disasters took the lives of more than 30 people at Ladbroke Grove and, a year later, four more at hatfield. hundreds more were injured.
The private company that owned the track and was responsible for its maintenance, Railtrack, was soon dissolved and replaced with Network Rail. Since then, Network Rail, with the help of experts at her Majesty’s Rail Inspectorate, have made fatalities increasingly rare.
Most deaths in the past 20 years or so have been caused by car and lorry drivers trespassing on the lines at level crossings or, on at least one tragic occasion, by a driver committing suicide by deliberately parking his vehicle in front of an oncoming train, killing himself and six passengers and train staff.
The industry’s response to Stonehaven will have to await the conclusions of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB).
But already senior industry insiders are warning of a threat that the builders and architects who developed Britain’s railway network could never have imagined.
It is thought the violent storms and floods across Scotland on Tuesday evening and yesterday morning resulted in landslides on the Aberdeen-Glasgow route, forcing the driver of the ill-fated passenger train to reverse his direction before encountering another landslide as he made his way back north.
It is feared that unless a new approach is taken to anticipate such events in future, railway safety could become the latest victim of climate change and extreme weather conditions.
ScotRail, which operates the service, may come in for criticism for running the train in the first place, given the weather conditions. But how often have train companies been criticised for cancelling vital commuter services seemingly because of ‘a wee bit of rain’?
In the face of ever more violent weather patterns caused by the rise of global temperatures, the industry will have to consider new ways of ensuring that customers and staff are kept as safe as possible.
Given that there are 11,000 miles of passenger track in Britain, it is simply not practical to expect it to be completely monitored by realtime CCTV. Depending on the conclusions of the RAIB inquiry, however, train operators may have to consider more frequent use of slow-moving lead engines along routes ahead of passenger services to ensure there are no blockages.
Such initiatives are costly and cause delays but, after yesterday’s events, few would grudge the extra investment and the extra time added to journeys.
Our network is still largely a Victorian construct, built with ingenuity and daring but ill-suited to the 21st century. Before the Covid pandemic, it was carrying more passengers than at any time in its history outside of wartime – far more than was ever imagined in the 19th century.
IT may be thanks to Covid, in fact, that there were so few injuries yesterday, since initial reports suggested there were no more than a dozen people on board when the tragedy occurred – far fewer than would normally be expected on this service.
No doubt there will be the usual calls for radical restructuring of the railways as politicians rush to be seen to be doing something.
It is true that the industry is a confusing pattern of bodies, rules and unwieldy acronyms, and a number of surveys have revealed that few of us understand who does what. Network Rail in Scotland, for example, is still run from its Milton Keynes head office, even though its budget is decided by Scottish ministers at holyrood.
The industry does need to be changed, but we should be cautious about drawing too many conclusions from yesterday’s tragedy.
Change in the wrong area for the wrong reason might well make the situation worse.
The safety inspectorate and leadership of Network Rail are well aware of the challenges posed by climate change and the impact of extreme weather on safety and on timetables. They need the freedom and space to do what needs to be done to ensure Britain’s hard-won safety record is not compromised.
Tom Harris is a former UK Government Railways Minister and a current HS2 board member.