Other Road/rail interface sites

The Great Heck train crash on 28 February 2001 involved a road vehicle obstructing the railway line and derailing a passenger train which then collided with a freight train. There were ten deaths and several injuries to passengers and staff.

Prior to the Great Heck accident on 28 February 2001, industry concerns over the risk posed to the railway by road vehicles were focused mainly on level crossings, which according to the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) Safety Risk Model represent around 80% of the road/rail interface risk. Following Great Heck, other road/rail risk sites have received increased attention.

Role of ORR

The role of ORR is to monitor progress by infrastructure controllers, working with the local highways authorities, in completing  detailed risk assessments and any necessary improvements to further reduce incursion risk at vulnerable sites. Under a timetable produced by Network Rail,this work on the mainline railway should have been completed by March 2007. Although good progress has been made, some work remains outstanding and ORR continues to monitor progress.

Background

The Department for Transport (DfT) produced a publication ‘Managing the accidental obstruction of the railway by road vehicles’ in February 2003. Various bodies, including HSE, contributed to this publication which details a risk ranking process to be followed at each road over rail bridge and each adjacent road/rail site. Higher ranked locations (estimated to number around 1,500) should then be subjected to a secondary assessment which will determine any necessary improvements.

The report set out what the highway authorities, rail infrastructure authorities and other organisations needed to do to identify how they could jointly manage the risk of road vehicles getting onto the railway. It included a protocol for apportioning responsibility and costs of mitigation measures. British Transport Police agreed to collect the data about such incidents on a common basis. In order to update the standards for safety barriers on major roads in a clear and open procedure, the Highways Agency set up a technical project board. Prior to the publication of the DfT report, the Health and Safety Commission published the findings of its working group on the ‘obstruction of the railway by road vehicles’ in February 2002.