ACCIDENT investigators have raised concerns about the safety on Britain's railways after a train running from Scotland to London passed through a 20mph emergency speed restriction at 120mph.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has said UK train operating companies should carry out an urgent review of safety procedures saying the incident involving a train running from Aberdeen to London was no one off.
A preliminary examination has revealed that the requirement to issue information about speed restrictions to train drivers was removed by the Rail Safety and Standards Board ten years ago.
Research by the watchdog from four years ago into the reasons why drivers exceeded permanent, temporary and emergency speed limits found that around one in ten were not receiving the speed restriction advice.
The RSSB which is an independent not-for-profit company established in 2003 on the recommendation of the public inquiry into the Ladbroke Grove rail crash which killed 31 people and more than 258 injured, did not respond to request for comment.
A good practice guide by the Rail Delivery Group, which brings together the companies that run Britain’s railways advises train operators to have in place appropriate arrangements for advance warning for drivers drivers over emergency speed restrictions.
The London North Eastern Railway service running from Scotland was clocked running at high speeds as track maintenance staff were fixing a defect in a crossing near Sandy in Bedfordshire.
The RAIB found that the driver of the LNER train was unaware of the speed restriction because he had not been notified of it prior to the journey although there were marker boards and automatic warning system magnets in place to provide some later warnings.
Now the RAIB has issued a call for all train operating companies to review their practice over how they deal with emergency speed restrictions.
The RAIB says there investigations uncovered a safety issue which was that train drivers were "unaware that they are approaching a section of track where an emergency speed restriction is in force because some train operators are not passing to their drivers the advice of emergency speed restrictions issued by Network Rail".
It said: "Train operating companies and freight operating companies are advised to review their practice in this area, and consider whether they are taking adequate steps to minimise the likelihood that a driver encountering an emergency speed restriction may not respond correctly to the trackside signs.
"Suitable notification of drivers will alert of them of the need to look out for the start of the speed restriction, and informs them of the route to which the speed restriction applies..."
The RAIB will continue its investigation into the over-speeding incident and is expected to further explore the rules and procedures that should be in place and look at the ways in which train drivers are made aware speed restrictions.
A spokesperson for LNER said it fully supported the RAIB investigation and said it had launched its own internal review into the incident.
The spokesman said: "Safety is of paramount importance to us and we will implement appropriate measures when we have sight of the findings of the investigation."
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