2010 Little Cornard derailment
Encyclopedia
The Little Cornard derailment occurred on 17 August 2010 when a Class 156
diesel multiple unit
collided with a road vehicle on a level crossing
at Little Cornard
, Suffolk
and then derailed. The train driver and 22 passengers were injured, five of them seriously. The vehicle driver was subsequently jailed and disqualified from driving for causing the accident.
(16:37 UTC
), Class 156
Super Sprinter diesel multiple unit
156 417 was involved in a collision with a lorry
on a level crossing
on the railway between and stations. The lorry was proceeding from the sewage works towards the B1508
road. The train was operating the 17:31 service from Sudbury to . At the time of the accident, the train was travelling at between 50 and 60 mph (80.5 and 96.6 km/h). The train derailed as a result of the collision, which also overturned the lorry. Although the driver managed to warn passengers of an imminent collision, 23 people were injured. The driver of the train and four of the passengers were seriously injured. The Essex Air Ambulance attended the scene with two doctors and a paramedic on board. This aircraft was later used to transfer one patient to Colchester General Hospital and one patient to Addenbrooke's Hospital
, Cambridge
. The driver suffered a broken back and the passenger sustained injuries that were described as "life-threatening". He was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital by the East Anglian
Air Ambulance
, which sent one helicopter
to the scene. On 18 August, he was scheduled to be transferred to a specialist hospital in London
, but this did not happen and he remained at Addenbrooke's as of 19 August. Six victims of the accident were detained overnight in Colchester General Hospital and a seventh was detained overnight at the West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St Edmunds. One of those detained in hospital was released on 18 August.
owned by Anglian Water
. It is classed as a "user-worked crossing" and a telephone is provided to enable users to check with the signalman
whether or not it is safe to cross the line. Network Rail
stated that no telephone call was received from the driver of the lorry before the accident occurred.
arrested the lorry driver, who was questioned in connection with several alleged offences, and later charged with "endangering the safety of the railway". The wreckage of the lorry was removed from the line in the early hours of 18 August, but a 130-tonne crane had to be brought in to remove the derailed train, which was eventually removed at 04:30 on 19 August and taken by road to Milton Keynes
for repairs. The lorry driver appeared before magistrate
s at Bury St Edmunds on 20 August and was remanded on conditional bail to appear again on 1 October. On 29 October, at Ipswich Crown Court, the lorry driver pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of railway passengers. He was granted conditional bail. On 26 November, the lorry driver was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court to 15 months imprisonment for endangering safety on the railway. He was also disqualified from driving for three years.
, general secretary of the RMT Union
, called the accident "avoidable" and called for a programme to eliminate all level crossings from the British railway network. Keith Norman
, general secretary of ASLEF said that he was saddened that lessons had not been learned from previous accidents, and criticised Network Rail for failing to modernise many level crossings.
opened an investigation into the accident itself.
The report of the investigation was published in August 2011. It concluded that the primary cause of the accident was that the lorry driver drove onto the crossing when it was unsafe to do so. Although he was aware that he should contact the signalman by telephone before and after crossing, he did not call before starting to cross. A lack of track circuit
s on the line meant that sometimes users of the level crossing faced a wait of up to 19 minutes before being given permission to cross. On one occasion, a wait of 36 minutes was recorded. Although drivers were required to obtain permission to cross, this was only done about 30% of the time. Network Rail
had failed to involve Anglian Water and other authorised users of the crossing in the triennial risk assessment of the crossing. This was deemed to be an underlying cause of the accident. The design of the tables used in Class 156 units was deemed to have contributed to a number of serious injuries, although the train itself was deemed to have met its design specification in respect of the collision. The signage at the crossing was deemed to give unclear information and thus a contributory factor. As a result of the accident, telephones at the crossing were moved so that a driver did not need to open the gates to access the telephones. Miniature stop lights were to be introduced, and track circuits may also be introduced on the Mark's Tey – Sudbury line. Anglian Water ceased using outside contractors to remove sludge from the sewage works. Six recommendations were made in the report.
British Rail Class 156
The British Rail Class 156 Super Sprinter is a diesel multiple-unit train . 114 of these units were built from 1987 to 1989 by Metro-Cammell at its Washwood Heath Works in Birmingham...
diesel multiple unit
Diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
collided with a road vehicle on a level crossing
Level crossing
A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
at Little Cornard
Little Cornard
Little Cornard is a village and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Located around from its larger sibling, Great Cornard, on the B1057 road between Sudbury and Colchester, it is part of Babergh district, and has a population of 305. The parish also includes the hamlet of Workhouse Green.The...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
and then derailed. The train driver and 22 passengers were injured, five of them seriously. The vehicle driver was subsequently jailed and disqualified from driving for causing the accident.
Accident
At 17:37 BSTBritish Summer Time
Western European Summer Time is a summer daylight saving time scheme, 1 hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time. It is used in the following places:* the Canary Islands* Portugal * Ireland...
(16:37 UTC
Coordinated Universal Time
Coordinated Universal Time is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is one of several closely related successors to Greenwich Mean Time. Computer servers, online services and other entities that rely on having a universally accepted time use UTC for that purpose...
), Class 156
British Rail Class 156
The British Rail Class 156 Super Sprinter is a diesel multiple-unit train . 114 of these units were built from 1987 to 1989 by Metro-Cammell at its Washwood Heath Works in Birmingham...
Super Sprinter diesel multiple unit
Diesel multiple unit
A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple unit train consisting of multiple carriages powered by one or more on-board diesel engines. They may also be referred to as a railcar or railmotor, depending on country.-Design:...
156 417 was involved in a collision with a lorry
Lorry
-Transport:* Lorry or truck, a large motor vehicle* Lorry, or a Mine car in USA: an open gondola with a tipping trough* Lorry , a horse-drawn low-loading trolley-In fiction:...
on a level crossing
Level crossing
A level crossing occurs where a railway line is intersected by a road or path onone level, without recourse to a bridge or tunnel. It is a type of at-grade intersection. The term also applies when a light rail line with separate right-of-way or reserved track crosses a road in the same fashion...
on the railway between and stations. The lorry was proceeding from the sewage works towards the B1508
Great Britain road numbering scheme
The Great Britain road numbering scheme is a numbering scheme used to classify and identify all roads in Great Britain. Each road is given a single letter, which represents the road's category, and a subsequent number, with a length of between 1 and 4 digits. Originally introduced to arrange...
road. The train was operating the 17:31 service from Sudbury to . At the time of the accident, the train was travelling at between 50 and 60 mph (80.5 and 96.6 km/h). The train derailed as a result of the collision, which also overturned the lorry. Although the driver managed to warn passengers of an imminent collision, 23 people were injured. The driver of the train and four of the passengers were seriously injured. The Essex Air Ambulance attended the scene with two doctors and a paramedic on board. This aircraft was later used to transfer one patient to Colchester General Hospital and one patient to Addenbrooke's Hospital
Addenbrooke's Hospital
Addenbrooke's Hospital is an internationally renowned teaching hospital in Cambridge, England, with strong links to the University of Cambridge. It was founded in 1766 on Trumpington Street with £4,500 from the will of Dr John Addenbrooke, a fellow of St Catharine's College...
, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
. The driver suffered a broken back and the passenger sustained injuries that were described as "life-threatening". He was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital by the East Anglian
East Anglian Air Ambulance
The East Anglian Air Ambulance is an air ambulance which covers Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire. The service was launched in the summer of 2000 by jockey Frankie Dettori. The service now operates 365 days a year utilising two helicopters, covering over and a population of...
Air Ambulance
Air ambulance
An air ambulance is an aircraft used for emergency medical assistance in situations where either a traditional ambulance cannot reach the scene easily or quickly enough, or the patient needs to be transported over a distance or terrain that makes air transportation the most practical transport....
, which sent one helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
to the scene. On 18 August, he was scheduled to be transferred to a specialist hospital in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, but this did not happen and he remained at Addenbrooke's as of 19 August. Six victims of the accident were detained overnight in Colchester General Hospital and a seventh was detained overnight at the West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St Edmunds. One of those detained in hospital was released on 18 August.
Location
The gated level crossing is on a private road leading to a sewage worksSewage treatment
Sewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...
owned by Anglian Water
Anglian Water
Anglian Water is a privatised water company that operates in the East of England. Named for East Anglia, apart from Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire it also covers Lincolnshire, Essex, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, a small part of north Nottinghamshire and Greater London...
. It is classed as a "user-worked crossing" and a telephone is provided to enable users to check with the signalman
Signalman (rail)
A signalman or signaller is an employee of a railway transport network who operates the points and signals from a signal box in order to control the movement of trains.- History :...
whether or not it is safe to cross the line. Network Rail
Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
stated that no telephone call was received from the driver of the lorry before the accident occurred.
Aftermath
The line between Marks Tey and Sudbury was closed until 21:50 hrs on 19 August 2010. Apart from the damage to rolling stock and track, a culvert collapsed. British Transport PoliceBritish Transport Police
The British Transport Police is a special police force that polices those railways and light-rail systems in Great Britain for which it has entered into an agreement to provide such services...
arrested the lorry driver, who was questioned in connection with several alleged offences, and later charged with "endangering the safety of the railway". The wreckage of the lorry was removed from the line in the early hours of 18 August, but a 130-tonne crane had to be brought in to remove the derailed train, which was eventually removed at 04:30 on 19 August and taken by road to Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes , sometimes abbreviated MK, is a large town in Buckinghamshire, in the south east of England, about north-west of London. It is the administrative centre of the Borough of Milton Keynes...
for repairs. The lorry driver appeared before magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
s at Bury St Edmunds on 20 August and was remanded on conditional bail to appear again on 1 October. On 29 October, at Ipswich Crown Court, the lorry driver pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of railway passengers. He was granted conditional bail. On 26 November, the lorry driver was sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court to 15 months imprisonment for endangering safety on the railway. He was also disqualified from driving for three years.
Reactions
Bob CrowBob Crow
Robert Crow , who is better known as Bob Crow, is a British trade union leader, the General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers and a member of the General Council of the TUC...
, general secretary of the RMT Union
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers is a trade union in the United Kingdom which unionises transport workers. It has more than 80,000 members, and its current general secretary is Bob Crow...
, called the accident "avoidable" and called for a programme to eliminate all level crossings from the British railway network. Keith Norman
Keith Norman
Keith Norman is general secretary of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen , the train drivers' trade union in Great Britain. He comes from Wales, and is a supporter of the Labour Party.- External links :* from BBC website...
, general secretary of ASLEF said that he was saddened that lessons had not been learned from previous accidents, and criticised Network Rail for failing to modernise many level crossings.
Investigation
British Transport Police opened an investigation into the events before the accident, which will centre on whether or not Anglian Water gave proper training to visitors to the sewage works in relation to the correct use of the level crossing. The Rail Accident Investigation BranchRail Accident Investigation Branch
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch is a government agency that became operational on 17 October 2005. Its primary role is the investigation of rail accidents in the United Kingdom and the Channel Tunnel in order to find a cause, not to lay blame. The agency has operational centres in The...
opened an investigation into the accident itself.
The report of the investigation was published in August 2011. It concluded that the primary cause of the accident was that the lorry driver drove onto the crossing when it was unsafe to do so. Although he was aware that he should contact the signalman by telephone before and after crossing, he did not call before starting to cross. A lack of track circuit
Track circuit
A track circuit is a simple electrical device used to detect the absence of a train on rail tracks, used to inform signallers and control relevant signals.- Principles and operation :...
s on the line meant that sometimes users of the level crossing faced a wait of up to 19 minutes before being given permission to cross. On one occasion, a wait of 36 minutes was recorded. Although drivers were required to obtain permission to cross, this was only done about 30% of the time. Network Rail
Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
had failed to involve Anglian Water and other authorised users of the crossing in the triennial risk assessment of the crossing. This was deemed to be an underlying cause of the accident. The design of the tables used in Class 156 units was deemed to have contributed to a number of serious injuries, although the train itself was deemed to have met its design specification in respect of the collision. The signage at the crossing was deemed to give unclear information and thus a contributory factor. As a result of the accident, telephones at the crossing were moved so that a driver did not need to open the gates to access the telephones. Miniature stop lights were to be introduced, and track circuits may also be introduced on the Mark's Tey – Sudbury line. Anglian Water ceased using outside contractors to remove sludge from the sewage works. Six recommendations were made in the report.