Merseyrail derailment

ORR’s HM Railway Inspectorate are investigating the 26 October 2005 derailment of the last carriage of a Merseyrail West Kirby service. The incident occurred in a single bore tunnel between Liverpool Lime Street and Liverpool Central at around 17:40. There were no serious injuries and all passengers were safely detrained.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) are leading the investigation into the cause of the derailment. The separate HMRI investigation is examining the extent to which the parties involved had discharged their duties under safety law. The HMRI investigation is not yet complete and consequently no decisions can yet be made about the outcome of our work.

A report of the RAIB investigation has been completed with a number of recommendations from it.

The evidence intially indicated that the derailment occurred due to track defects which allowed gauge spread between the running lines.