Man arrested after London train hits buffers - London Bridge, 13 Dec 2024

[whole diary]

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

A man has been arrested after a train collided with buffers at London Bridge station.

The incident on Friday afternoon involved a Southern train travelling from Victoria.

A Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) spokesperson said the train "collided with the buffers at low speed" as it arrived at the station.

A man was arrested on suspicion of endangerment on the railway and has been released on bail, British Transport Police (BTP^▸ (British Transport Police)) confirmed.

In a statement BTP added officers were called to the collision at 15:53 GMT but there were no reported injuries.

GTR said the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch)) had been informed about the incident. They have been contacted for a response.

GTR said passengers on the train left the station and the platform was back in use.

A spokesperson for the RAIB said: "The RAIB has been notified of an incident which occurred on Friday evening at London Bridge mainline station.

"Evidence is being gathered as part of the process of conducting a preliminary examination and a decision on whether an investigation will be launched will be taken in the coming days."

[Ralph Ayres]

A very partial report, presumably because details haven't been released as they might prejudice the inquiry.  Trouble is that tends to encourage speculation and here goes!  Hard to see how the man arrested could be anyone other than the train's driver, but perhaps that (and the accompanying "suspicion of endangerment on the railway" reason) is now standard procedure in the case of any such incident to avoid any later legal loopholes and doesn't necessarily mean the driver is at fault.  Can anyone with current knowledge of such procedures confirm this?

[Bob_Blakey]

Would it be in any way possible for a member of the public to access the driver's cab from the passenger saloon and somehow prevent the driver from bringing the train to a stop safely? I assume that driving cabs are protected by a robust door locking system but that may not be the case, or there was one and it was not activated.

[grahame]

Would it be in any way possible for a member of the public to access the driver's cab from the passenger saloon and somehow prevent the driver from bringing the train to a stop safely? I assume that driving cabs are protected by a robust door locking system but that may not be the case, or there was one and it was not activated.

Hmmm ... dangerous to speculate.  However - I am aware that on SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) class 158 trains, the passenger door directly being the driver's cab is always kept out of service for the security of the driver.  My understanding is this is why SWR trains never call at Milton Marsh.

[broadgage]

Would it be in any way possible for a member of the public to access the driver's cab from the passenger saloon and somehow prevent the driver from bringing the train to a stop safely? I assume that driving cabs are protected by a robust door locking system but that may not be the case, or there was one and it was not activated.

Not that robust ! often access is only prevented by means of a lock operated by a square key, often called a "carriage key" these can be obtained in various ways.
If an unauthorised person gained access to the driving cab, I would expect that the driver would brake hard, or release the DSD^▸ (Driver's Safety Device) or drivers safety device.

[IndustryInsider]

Not wishing to speculate, but arrest would happen if a driver were to fail the 'for cause' alcohol and drug screening which happens to all those involved in such an incident.

[ChrisB]

From Evening Standard, via MSN

Man arrested after train crashes into buffers at London Bridge

A man has been arrested after a train collided with buffers at London Bridge.

A Southern service travelling from Victoria collided with the station’s end barriers on Friday afternoon.

Govia Thameslink Railway said the train “collided with the buffers at low speed” as it arrived at the station.

 British Transport Police confirmed the suspect arrested on suspicion of endangerment on the railway has been released on bail

In a statement, BTP^▸ (British Transport Police) added officers were called to the collision at 3.53pm. There were no reported injuries.

GTR said the Rail Accident Investigation Branch had been informed about the incident. They have been contacted for a response.

A spokesman added passengers on board left the station and the platform is back in use.