At RAIB, we remember only too well the derailment of a Pendolino express train at Grayrigg in Cumbria in February 2007 that led to the death of one passenger and serious injuries to many others. Following that accident, the UK’s national railway network saw no other fatal train derailments or collisions for more than 13 years, a remarkable record. Sadly, the tragic accident at Carmont, Aberdeenshire, in which three people died, was a painful reminder that the risk of such accidents remains with us.
Unfortunately, 2020 saw three other fatal accidents on the operational railway, all of which are being investigated by RAIB (a fourth fatal accident at Eastleigh long welded rail depot on 30 November is outside RAIB’s scope). On 8 April 2020 a track worker died after being struck by a train at Roade, Northamptonshire, the third to die in this way in less than twelve months. The year also saw the launch of two RAIB investigations into the death of passengers on station platforms (Eden Park on 26 February and Waterloo Underground on 26 May). RAIB’s report into the first of these was published on 19 February 2021 (report 01/2021).
