Network Rail admits Grayrigg accident due to track maintenance failures

Failures in track maintenance by Network Rail caused a derailment of a Virgin West Coast train last year which killed one person and seriously injured 28 others, a report into the accident has concluded.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB), which published its report today, found that the immediate cause of the accident at Grayrigg in Cumbria was caused by the deterioration on 2B points at Lambrigg.

Failures on the three stretcher bars, the lock stretcher bar and their fastenings at the 2B points allowed the left-hand switch rail to move into an unsafe position close to its stock rail, without losing signalling detection, the report said.

It concluded that the failure of the points was caused by three factors:

• the mechanical failure of a bolted joint;
• the incorrect set up of the points; and
• a track inspection that was missed on 18 February 2007.

In its reponse to the report Network Rail admitted that the accident was caused by "the failure of our infrastructure".

Network Rail chief executive Iain Coucher said: "We immediately accepted responsibility for the accident and once again apologise to Mrs Masson's family and all those affected.

"Following a comprehensive and detailed industry investigation we made immediate changes to our maintenance regime."

Network Rail said it had made a series of 33 recommendations and actions, of which 32 have already been completed.

Some of the actions include:

• The Lambrigg points have been removed and will not be replaced.
• Checks have been made on 1,500 sets of points nationwide and nothing has been found.A special self-locking nut has been introduced into points assemblies across the country.
• Specialist 'points squads' have been created.
• Inspection, audit and assurance improvements have been made as well as changes to the organisation structure.