First/Railtrack take HSE rap

by Graham Ridout



Railtrack and First Engineering have been blamed for management failures in an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive into a freight train derailment in Scotland last year.

Although the HSE investigation found that the primary cause of the accident was track defects, it criticised Railtrack and maintenance contractor First Engineering for not analysing information they had on the condition of the track, and so did not spot and act on the worsening state of the track.

The gauge of the track had been gradually getting wider and eventually reached the point where it caused the derailment of 16 of 27 wagons on a coal train at Burntisland, on the Firth of Forth, Fife, Scotland, on 8 July 1998. The incident caused serious disruption to the East Coast Main Line and the track was not re-opened until four days later.

The HSE found that faulty installation work in the 1960's was to blame for the gauge between the rails widening. This defect was hidden by the fastenings that secure the rail to the concrete sleeper. HSE inspectors considered it unlikely that the faulty installation could have been anticipated or observed in the normal form of inspection but felt that the widening gap between the rails should have been identified.

These management failings are similar to those found in HSE's investigation of the accident at Bexley, Kent, on 4 February 1997, when a ballast train derailed due to poor track condition.

Two Balfour Beatty rail maintenance companies together with Railtrack were fined a total of £150,000 in September 1998 and the HSE issued a damning report into the crash last March.

Several of the lessons learned from the Bexley report have been reiterated in the Burntisland investigation. Maintenance contractors should ensure that competent people are employed, and should undertake ongoing monitoring to make sure that adequate systems and resources are used, the report found. Railtrack was told to monitor its maintenance contractors' performance, and should review the effectiveness of the systems so that the infrastructure is maintained safely.

Two other stretches of track with the same fasteners have been identified. Railtrack has agreed to replace these sections by April 2000 and speed restrictions will apply until these works are completed.

The HSE investigation found that there was not sufficient evidence to prosecute either firm. Railtrack has drawn up an action plan to address the issues raised by the investigation and HSE said it will review this plan at the end of October.