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The RAIB is carrying out an investigation following reports of train 1D76, the 19:19 hrs service from Birmingham New Street to Nottingham, being struck by a heavy object when passing a worksite. The train was travelling on the Up Main line and track renewal activities were taking place on the adjacent goods lines which were closed to traffic. The train incurred damage to the lower parts of its bodyshell, a footstep and a yaw damper. No-one was injured.

At about 19:25 hrs on Saturday 06 March 2010 the driver of train 1D76, the 19:19 hrs service from Birmingham New Street to Nottingham, reported that his train had struck a heavy object when passing a work site.  At the time of the incident train 1D76 was travelling on the Up Main line and track renewal activities were taking place on the adjacent goods lines which were closed to traffic.

RAIB's preliminary examination of the facts has revealed that train 1D76 had been struck by a length of rail that was being dragged by a road-rail vehicle working adjacent to the Up Main line.  The train incurred damage to the lower parts of its body shell, a footstep and a yaw damper.  No one was injured. The train returned to New Street station and was taken out of service.

The RAIB^s investigation will focus on the planning and management of the work activities and will be independent of any investigations by the railway industry or safety authority.

The RAIB will publish a report, including any recommendations to improve safety, at the conclusion of its investigation. This report will be available on the RAIB website.

Summary

A passenger train passing the site of track maintenance work at Washwood Heath, Birmingham on 6 March 2010 struck a piece of rail being moved as part of the maintenance work.  The front and lower side of the train were damaged by the impact and the driver of the train was slightly injured.  None of the passengers on the train or workers on the site were injured.

The accident was caused by a combination of factors including:
* the unsafe system of work adopted for the maintenance work did not comply with the rule book or Network Rail^s procedures;
* the supervisor in charge of the relaying work was not adequately managed and was not challenged over his unsafe method of work; and
* the lack of effective review of the safe system of work at the planning and implementation stages.

The RAIB has made four recommendations to Network Rail, the owners of the infrastructure.  The recommendations relate to independent checking of safe systems of work, supervision of staff at the Saltley infrastructure maintenance delivery unit (IMDU), the training and assessment of existing staff for safety leadership roles and changes to operating procedures.  A recommendation regarding understanding the causes of rule violation made in a previous report in 2006 was also relevant here.

Key Definitions

Appendices at the rear of this report contain the following:

* abbreviations are explained in appendix A; and

* technical terms (shown in italics the first time they appear in the report) are explained in appendix B.

CrossCountry Trains, AP Webb and Network Rail freely co-operated with the investigation.  The RAIB is concerned to note that key evidence on site was moved, and some of the site staff involved did not co-operate fully with the RAIB by witholding information about the accident from the RAIB inspector who attended the site.  These actions contravened the Railways (Accident Investigation and Reporting) Regulations 2005.  The RAIB has written to Network Rail to remind it of the obligations of its staff under the Railways (Accident Investigation and Reporting) Regulations 2005.  Network Rail has taken action to reinforce these requirements to its staff.

Hmm .. perhaps we need to re-open the acronyms page ... my plain english filter gave me 1D76, 4BA, AP, ATSM, ATSM1, ATWS, CC1, CIRAS, COSS, DE21, ES, GE/RT8000, IMDU, LOLER, NR/L2/OHS/00112, NR/L2/OHS/019, NR/L2/OHS/040, NR/L2/RMVP/0203, NR/L3/INI/TK0042, NR/L3/MTC/MG0210, NR/L3/MTC/PL0159, NR/L3/OCS/041, NR/L3/OPS/047, NR/L3/RVE/0168, NR/L3/TRK/1011, NR/L3/TRK/6001, NRN, OTP, PICOP, PPE, RAIB, RMMM, RRV, SSOWPS, T2, T7, TMC06, TSM, TSM/ATSM, TSM1, UK and XC.
Summary of the summary ... someone swung a section of rail in front of an approaching train on the next track, and the train hit it.
In all seriousness - could have been very nasty, and re-iterates just how dangerous trackwork is, especially if there are trains still moving nearby.