Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Thursday, 10th March 2022
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Thursday, 10th March 2022
A train crash that killed three people and left six injured was caused by errors in the construction of a trackside drainage system, an investigation report has concluded.
An article on the Sky News website says that lawyers representing victims of the tragedy near Stonehaven in August 2020 say that failures identified in the official accident report amount to “the very definition of negligence”.
The RAIB found that differences between the design of the drain and its construction meant it was unable to cope with the amount of rainfall prior to the crash.
A low earth bank, a bund, had been constructed that created a concentrated flow of water into a drainage trench that resulted in gravel being washed out onto the line.
Sky News says the firm Carillion failed to inform Network Rail and the designers of the drain, ARUP, that is was adding the bund to the system.
In response, Network Rail’s chief executive Andrew Haines said “there are fundamental lessons to be learnt by Network Rail and the wider industry”. He adds that “we must do better and we are utterly committed to that”.
In other news Crewe and Preston are bidding to become the home of the headquarters of a new public body in charge of Britain’s train services.
An article on Insider Media Limited says the government intends for the HQ of Great British Railways (GBR) to be based outside of London.
A competition is underway which asks councils to submit an expression of interest, before a shortlist is created later in the year.
A new tourism project called ‘Wales on Rails’ has been launched to encourage more people to travel around Wales sustainably using the national rail network, heritage railways and buses.
Transport for Wales’s Community Rail Partnerships and Visit Wales have jointly funded the new initiative that promotes the use of public transport to link key tourist attractions and offers visitors the chance to experience some of the most scenic rail networks in the world.
Photo credit: RAIB
