RSSB’s Derek Hotchkiss considers the trouble with comms, as accidents still happen because not everyone gets told about or understands changes in arrangements.
A signaller once said to me, ‘The way to keep out of trouble is to not change your mind.’ An accident once happened because somebody – sitting at a desk in an office – changed his mind.
Of course, it was ‘the driver’s fault’, because he didn’t see the alteration in a corner of the late notice case in a dimly lit signingon point. Yet if the change hadn’t been made, the driver would have stayed alive.
On a summer Sunday, single line working by pilotman was to be introduced on the Down line between two stations on the old Great Central. This was due to planned engineering work on the Up line. The agreed and published plan was that the single line section would extend from Rugby and Braunston & Willoughby stations.
There was an intermediate signalbox at Barby Sidings, which had a crossover that was due to be removed. In the week before the date of the work, it was realised that the Barby Sidings crossover was still in place, so the single line section could be shortened to between Rugby and Barby Sidings – a distance of some three miles instead of five.
So, the change was implemented. On the Friday, a circular was issued with a copy placed in the late notice cases at the depots concerned. It merely said that single line working would be between Rugby and Barby Sidings. This arrangement worked until the 10:35 Manchester-Marylebone arrived at Rugby.
The engine was ‘blowing off’ when the pilot told the driver that single line working was in place, so he might not have heard very well; in any case, he didn’t repeat the message back. There was another train to follow through the single line section, so the pilotman remained at Rugby.
The train then departed on the single (Down) line with the driver of the opinion that the single line section extended to Braunston & Willoughby. It approached Barby Sidings at about 55mph with the 15mph crossover set for it to cross back to the proper line, with the result that it was comprehensively derailed. The driver was killed.
This happened in 1955. We would like to think that methods of communication have much improved today, but accidents and incidents still happen because not everyone gets told about or understands changes in arrangements. Read the report into the accident.
Are your comms as sharp as they should be? Do you think through to the consequences before you change your mind on a safety-critical issue?
Cover image credit: Warwickshire Railways