Grayrigg crash tied to inspection failure

News | HSW
15.09.2007

A "systematic failure in the track patrolling regime" was the main underlying cause of the Grayrigg rail crash in February, according to a report by Virgin Trains and Network Rail.

Bolts on the faulty points which caused the crash had been replaced six weeks before the incident, but there had been no investigation into the reason they had become loose. The replacements were shaken loose again.

One passenger was killed and 22 were detained in hospital when the Pendolino train operated by West Coast Trains left the track near Kendall on 23 February.

A track inspection five days before the derailment that should have revealed the fault missed the set of points and the failure was not picked up by a supervisor.

The report identifies pressure  to cut inspection and maintenance backlogs and remoteness of management from track staff as contributiors to the oversights that led to the incident.

The report is available at www.networkrail.co.uk/documents/4277_Lambrigg%20summary%20report.pdf