Reversing a grim track record

Safety on the railways is continuing to improve overall, but for those working in the industry the tracks remain a highly dangerous place.

The latest Annual Safety Performance Report, published by the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB), shows a rise in the number of workforce fatalities, with eight track worker deaths in 2004, the highest since 1991. There were also 124 major injuries, compared to three deaths and 83 major injuries in 2003.

‘While some of this increase might be explained by greater levels of activity, it undoubtedly constitutes a sharp deterioration in performance,’ the report stated.

The accident at Tebay in February 2004, in which four track workers were killed when a trolley with no functioning brakes ran from one worksite into another, was the worst single accident since 1991. At Hednesford near Cannock two staff unloading rails were struck by a reversing road rail vehicle, and at Ancaster a person was killed when the on-track machine he and colleagues were riding on collided with another.