Safety warning after train collision with farm equipment
17th October 2022
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has issued safety recommendations to Network Rail, HSE and farmers/farm workers after an incident at a user worked crossing in Cambridgeshire.
Farmers and farm workers who need to pass over user worked railway crossings must be briefed on how to do so safely, a new report has stated.
The report follows an accident at the Kisby crossing in Cambridgeshire in August 2021, when a train travelling at around 66mph collided with agricultural machinery being towed over the railway by a tractor.
The train driver suffered minor injuries, while the tractor driver was uninjured. The locomotive and one wagon derailed, with both suffering some damage and there was extensive damage to the infrastructure of the railway.
RAIB said the accident occurred because the tractor driver had not been briefed about the requirement to call the signaller before crossing the railway, to seek permission to cross.
This is likely to have occurred because the authorised user – the person owning land on both sides of the level crossing – was not briefing crossing users appropriately, and railway staff were unaware that this was the case until shortly before the accident, RAIB said.
RAIB found that Network Rail was not effectively managing the safe use of Kisby, and some other user worked crossings with telephones, and that this was an underlying factor for the accident.
As a result of its investigation, RAIB has made recommendations to Network Rail and the Health and Safety Executive. These seek improvements in the management and assurance processes applied to user worked crossings and an additional means of communicating crossing safety information to agricultural workers.
RAIB has also written to several organisations representing farmers asking that they remind their members of the importance of following correct procedures at user worked crossings.
Chief inspector of rail accidents, Andrew Hall, commented:“Entering a railway level crossing when a train is approaching is incredibly dangerous and the accident at Kisby, although very serious, came extremely close to having a more tragic outcome.
“It is critical that any farm workers who may need to pass over a user worked crossing are briefed on how to do so safely and that they understand the importance of following the instructions displayed next to the crossing every time it is used.”
