Eastleigh Train Derailment Investigation

The cause of the Eastleigh Train Derailment was revealed by Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) after the line reopened and repairs had taken place.

Six days of emergency repair works were undertaken after a slow-moving train was derailed in Eastleigh on the 28th of January. The RAIB revealed that the train derailed after travelling at 12mph on the slow line when the incident took place as it crossed over to the fast line.

The class 70 train was only partly derailed before it picked up the tracks again, though by this time, four of the five wagons that had transitioned lines also had wheels derail, which caused damage to the tracks. The driver stopped the train before the remaining twenty-five wagons had time to reach the derailment point, and thankfully nobody was injured as a result of the incident.

Severe damage was done to signalling equipment as well as parts of the track. It was found that several of the rail fastenings, which keep space between rails even, had broken, with some of them being broken before the train mounted the rails, causing them to spread further apart. This allowed the train’s wheels to drop into the spaces between them.

Network Rail announced that the fault was on the infrastructure as the fastenings gave way. Further inspections of all similar fastenings across its Wessex route have taken place since the incident, and no extra areas of concern have been identified.

The wagons were lifted back onto their tracks by cranes and hydraulic jacks, and damaged points were completely removed, redesigned from scratch, and are set to be replaced in the very near future.

In the event of an accident, what are the train company’s responsibilities?

By law, the train company is responsible for the wellbeing of all passengers. This responsibility takes effect from the moment you enter a station, throughout the journey and ends when you leave the station at the other end. Incidents attributed to rail travel are thankfully rare, but can of course still occur.

Train crashes are one thing the company is most definitely liable for, but (seemingly) more mundane and minor things are accountable to them also. Including:

• Defective equipment or components inside the train – Such as broken seats, loose floor coverings, sharp edges or insecure handrails, supports or emergency doors.
• Slips and trips – Likely caused by uneven paving slabs, wet floors, broken glass, food waste etc.
• Falling objects – High fixtures or inadequate luggage storage areas.
• Crashes – Can be caused by any number of factors, including signal error, neglected tracks, debris, collisions, human error or mechanical failure.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

If you have had been in an accident whilst travelling by rail, get in touch today for a free initial consultation. Choose one of the methods on the right-hand side of this page, or call us on 0113 200 9720 to find out how we can help you.

Article by Stuart Jones