Track fatality costs rail operator GBP 450,000
The operator of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) must pay nearly £500,000 in fine and costs after a member of the public fell on the
track and was crushed to death by a train.
Southwark Crown Court heard that the incident took place at All Saints DLR station in London on 2 April 2007, just after 10pm.
Robert Carter fell on to the tracks during an altercation with a friend, Paul Green.
The prosecution told the court that the two men got into a heated argument at the station, which led to Green calling the emergency
services and claiming that Carter had threatened him with a knife. He remained on the phone to the operator and walked on to the platform,
where he was approached by Carter, who pushed him against a wall. Green is then said to have pushed Carter in self-defence, which caused
Carter to stumble and fall on to the tracks.
The operator was listening to the altercation through Green’s phone and reported the incident to British Transport Police. The police
operator advised staff in the DLR control-room to check the CCTV to confirm whether there was anyone on the track.
A control-room operator accessed the CCTV but couldn’t see anyone lying on the tracks, and there were no obvious signs of a disturbance.
Consequently, the control room decided there was no need to stop the computer-driven trains from entering the station.
Soon after, another control-room operator saw on the CCTV a police officer at the station waving his arms above his head. The operator
pushed the emergency button to stop the train, but the first set of wheels had already struck Mr Carter. He was taken to hospital where he
died as a result of crush injuries.
An investigation by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) found that Serco Ltd, which operates the DLR, had an inadequate procedure in place
for stopping trains in an emergency. The company allowed control-room staff to decide whether to stop trains based partly on CCTV images.
But the CCTV was not intended for this purpose and did not give staff a view of the entire track, which was not illuminated.
The ORR issued an Improvement Notice on 12 July 2007, which required trains to be stopped when an incident is reported. The service can
only resume after a member of staff has visited the scene in person.
Serco Ltd appeared in court on 12 May and pleaded guilty to breaching s3(1) of the HSWA 1974. On top of the £450,000 fine, the company
was ordered to pay £43,773 in costs.
In mitigation, the firm said it had no previous convictions and had fully cooperated with the investigation. It said it could not have
foreseen an altercation of this nature but admitted that it had failed to mitigate the consequences of the incident."
Speaking after sentencing, ORR director of railway safety Ian Prosser said "Mr Carter’s death could have been avoided if proper procedures had
been implemented."
He added: "Most importantly, following ORR’s enforcement action Serco has made changes to its procedures to ensure that such an
incident should never happen again. Ultimately safety is about people and, although risk of an accident is as low as it has ever been,
there is absolutely no room for complacency."
Return to the news section
|