Tebay rail accident victims remembered 20 years on

Chris Waters, Colin Buckley and Darren Burgess were killed in the crash, along with Gary Tindall

A memorial will be held to mark 20 years since four rail workers were killed by an out-of-control wagon.

Families of the victims of the Tebay rail crash and members of the railway union RMT will gather on Thursday for a ceremony in Cumbria.

Two men, working as subcontractors for Network Rail, were found guilty of manslaughter through gross negligence at Newcastle Crown Court in 2006.

Network Rail said safety measures have been improved since the disaster and that union safety reps played an important role.

On 15 February 2004, four men were killed as they worked on the West Coast Main Line when a faulty 16-tonne wagon broke free and sped down Shap Summit.

Gary Tindall, 46, from Tebay, Chris Waters, 53, of Morecambe, Lancashire, Colin Buckley, 49, of Carnforth, Lancashire, and Darren Burgess, 30, also of Carnforth, all died.

Five others were injured.

The runaway wagon reached speeds of 40mph (64km/h)

Improved safety measures

Network Rail’s group safety and engineering director Martin Frobisher said: "As a first responder to the incident at Tebay, my thoughts and those of the railway family continue to be with the loved ones of our colleagues tragically killed.

"The court ruling was manslaughter, with the owner of the company who supplied the equipment prosecuted for knowingly providing a trailer without brakes."

Mr Frobisher said that following the Tebay accident, the rail industry "improved safety measures for road-rail vehicles, towed trollies and how [they] plan engineering work on gradients".

Mark Connolly, 44, of Anglesey, north Wales, was jailed for seven years and Roy Kennett, 29, of Maidstone, Kent, was jailed for two years.

'Avoidable disaster'

The RMT said wreaths will be laid and a few brief words spoken at the memorial stone, south of Tebay village off the A685, in a private ceremony on Thursday.

All four of the men who died were members of the RMT.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "Our brothers who were lost in this avoidable disaster are never far from our thoughts and today we pay tribute to them and their families.

"The union will always be at the forefront of fighting for good safety standards in every workplace and we will vigorously oppose any employer who tries to undermine that."