Grayrigg derailment

ORR's Railway Safety Directorate is investigating the 23 February 2007 derailment of the Virgin West Coast Pendolino London to Glasgow service. The incident occurred at Grayrigg in Cumbria at around 20:15. One passenger died and there were serious injuries to 28 passengers, the train driver and one other crew member.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB); the British Transport Police (BTP) and the ORR all investigated the incident for different purposes. The RAIB led the investigation into the cause of the derailment and published their final report on 23 October 2008. This contained a number of wide ranging recommendations, primarily addressed to Network Rail but also to RSSB, ORR and Virgin Trains. The BTP investigated to determine whether any party had committed serious criminal offences and announced in February 2009 it would not bring any charges.

ORR’s investigation and consideration of health and safety breaches is continuing.

Last updated: 18 February 2010