Loughborough: Blind man seriously hurt getting off heritage train

The carriage door stopped on the sloped end of the platform

A blind man was seriously injured while stepping off a heritage train that had stopped past the level part of a platform, a report has found.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said the passenger lost his footing at Loughborough Central station on 14 January.

The train's brakes had not been not performing consistently, the RAIB said.

Great Central Railway (GCR) said the accident was sad and it was eager to learn from it.

The accident left the 76-year-old passenger with a spiral fracture to his left femur and he underwent surgery, which included the replacement of a prosthetic hip joint.

The RAIB said the door used by the passenger opened onto the platform end ramp, approximately 1.6m (5ft) beyond the end of the level part of the platform.

The report said: "This was because the level platform was only around two metres longer than the distance needed to safely accommodate all of the train's doors, and the train's brakes were not performing in a consistent, predictable manner.

"Measures implemented by the railway had not effectively controlled the risk of passengers using doors which were not adjacent to usable platforms."

It was found GCR "did not have effective processes for learning lessons from operational experience, and had no effective process to support the identification, management and monitoring of risk".

Safety 'a priority'

The RAIB has made three recommendations.

The first is for GCR to continue with the review of its safety management system, and ensure the needs of disabled passengers and staff are reflected in their assessment of risk.

Secondly, the RAIB said GCR should continue to review its organisational structure and processes to give senior managers and the board a comprehensive understanding of what is being done to manage risks, and that learning from accidents, incidents and near misses is shared.

Thirdly, it has recommended The Heritage Railway Association (HRA) should produce guidance on assessing the risks associated with the platform-train interface.

"It should also consider how heritage railways should control the risks which arise from the use of heritage rolling stock and infrastructure, the use of heritage railways by persons with disabilities and the demographic of visitors and passengers to such railways," the report added.

Malcolm Holmes, general manager of GCR, said: "This accident was very sad, and we were eager to learn from it and make our railway safer.

"We thank RAIB for the thorough investigation into this accident, the findings of which align with our own internal inquiry.

"The safety of our visitors, staff and the public remains our top priority, and we are already well on the way to implementing the recommendations from this report."

Mark Pearce, policy and communications manager for the Heritage Railway Association, said: "We're fully aware of the recommendations made in the report and are already working on the guidance required.

"We'll be sharing this with heritage railways as soon as possible."