The driver of a train involved in a fatal rail crash in Bedfordshire received an automated warning that he was passing a red signal but still accelerated before hitting another train stopped on the track, an interim report has revealed. However, the report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, published on Thursday, also found the signal, near Elstow, had previously issued false danger warnings. It had issued one such alert to the Nottingham to London train that was hit in the collision on June 19, which had stopped as a result.
The crash killed Shaun Burton, the driver of the Corby to London train that passed the red signal, and injured more than 160 people. The incident, on the Sheffield to London Midland main line, was the first fatal collision on the UK’s railways since October 2024. The revelation that the antiquated automatic warning system (AWS) failed to prevent the crash is likely to lead to renewed calls for increased use of the train protection and warning system (TPWS), which automatically applies the brakes of any train passing a signal at danger.
TPWS was widely fitted at junctions, terminus stations and other places posing a high risk of collision in the early years of the 21st century following a series of serious crashes caused when drivers failed to respond properly to AWS warnings. However, for cost reasons, TPWS was not fitted at locations judged lower risk such as the signal that Burton’s train passed. An initial report published days after the crash found that Burton’s train — which investigators identified by the code 1H46 — had passed a red signal that should have protected the stationary Nottingham to London train on the track ahead.
But investigators had not yet established whether Burton had correctly received an AWS warning. Thursday’s report used information from the on-train data recorder (OTDR) — or “black box” — of the Corby to London train. AWS issues drivers a warning if they pass signals showing red or yellow lights, but they only apply the brakes if the driver fails to acknowledge the warning within 2.5 seconds.
The report said: “The OTDR from train 1H46 recorded that the driver acknowledged the AWS warning indication, but the train continued to accelerate towards and beyond the signal, which it passed at 17:12:53.” Burton applied the emergency brakes about 10 seconds before the impact but succeeded only in slowing the train from 75mph to 50mph. The Nottingham to London train, meanwhile, had been forced to stop after its driver failed to respond within the required 2.5 seconds to a false AWS danger warning from the signal that Burton’s train subsequently passed at danger. Further investigations were needed to establish why Burton did not respond correctly to the AWS danger warning before the crash, the report said.
The Department for Transport said it would ensure the rail industry acted on any findings in the RAIB’s full report when it was published. It added: “The interim report makes clear there is still much to be established about the incident and we urge people to refrain from speculation until the full facts are set out.”.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing