Network Rail must act fast on official investigation
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) doesn’t often hold media briefings in Scotland – I haven’t been to one in my two decades covering transport.
Butwhentheydo,they havesomethingimportant tosay.
Thatbecamequickly apparentinaberdeenyesterdaywhenfourexpert officialsfromtheukgovernmentbodysetoutthe keypointsoftheir296pagefinalreportintothe fatalcarmontrailcrash,in whichthreepeoplediedin 2020.
Tounderlinethesignificanceoftheincident,those werethefirstpeopletohave beenkilledonatraininbritainforanunprecedented 13years,andthefirstinscotlandformorethanaquarterofacentury.
The“dreadfuldamage”at Carmont,asraibdeputy chiefinspectorandrew Hallputit,wasnotcaused bysomechancehappening,butspecificfailings, compoundedbyothersin thewayourrailwaysare operated.
Astheraib’sweighty document,publishedtoday, setsoutindetail,therewasa startlingamountawrywith thenetworkthatcontributedtothedisaster,andmust beaddressed.inparticular,
Iwasstruckbythenumber oftimesthereportstated thatnetworkrail“didnot” dothisor“hadnot”done that.
Theseincludeoverhow theinfrastructurebody bothoversawitstrackside drainageandoperatedin extremeweather.
Asanexample,despite thedisruptioncausedby thedownpoursontheday ofthecrash,theraibsaid extracontrolroomstaff hadnotbeendraftedin,and controllershadnotbeen givensufficienttrainingto “effectivelymanage”such complexsituations.
Theorganisationreliedon accurateforecasting,reliableriskassessment,deploying“sufficientresource” andmonitoringrainasit fell.butraib’ssaid“inall theseareas,networkrail hadyettomeetitsownaspirations”.
Thereisanurgencytoall thistoo,asandrewhalltold thebriefing:“theaccident atcarmontwasnotthefirst ofitstype.weareseeinga changeintheclimateand it’sverylikelyinthefuture wewillseemoreincidents.
"Networkrailneedsto ensurethelessonslearned fromtheinvestigationof accidentstranslateintoreal actionthatmakesadifferenceinatimelyfashion.”