Poor maintenance to blame for derailment, says RAIB

Poor maintenance has been blamed for the derailment of a passenger train in 2006, according to a report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB).

The RAIB concluded that an “inappropriately” fixed safety panel, dislodged by road traffic at a level crossing in Croxton, and incorrectly positioned rail sleepers, all contributed to the derailment of the Norwich to Cambridgeshire train.

The report also highlighted issues such as sleepers not maintained in their correct positions when last refitted and a lack of understanding of the requirements to have the sleepers at the correct positions.

The RAIB also revealed that there was no provision of information to personnel involved with the crossing and that there was a lack of specification and assurance of the duty to which level crossing panels are exposed.

It also criticised Network Rail (NR) for not taking earlier action in response to the many reports of problems on the crossing in the five months prior to the derailment.

In October 2003 NR took all its maintenance operations in-house away from its contractors. It claimed the move would provide a “consistent application of high standards of rail maintenance across the network” and "continued improvement in track-side safety standards".

In a statement NR said: “We are currently reviewing the recommendations made in the RAIB report. Following the incident itself, we immediately carried out level crossing panel inspections to correct any such deficiencies on the network and improved staff training in the maintenance, standards and risks associated with these crossings.

”Fortunately, incidents at level crossings are very rare and we have a good safety record.”