Manchester Metrolink: Checks not done before woman trapped in tram doors
- Published
The passenger suffered facial and hand injuries in the incident
A tram driver did not do safety checks before a woman's bag got trapped in the closing doors and she was dragged along the platform, a report has found.
The driver was unaware of the passenger after leaving Shudehill Metrolink stop in Manchester city centre.
She was dragged 13m (42ft) and suffered facial and hand injuries, external in the incident at 11:15 BST on 27 May.
The tram operator said it would use the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) report to improve safety.
While the woman had stepped back from the tram to avoid the closing doors, the strap of her bag became trapped in them.
The driver was focusing on a tram signal and on seeing if there were any pedestrians or vehicles ahead, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
The tram's "door interlock system" is designed to automatically reopen the doors if objects at least 30mm thick are detected.
But the report said the driver was "unaware" that thin objects could be trapped in the closed doors and not be detected.
The first CCTV check was carried out but there was no evidence of a second or third check, the report found.
But it found that the woman was not initially visible because she was behind a ticket machine.
The report provided a reconstruction of the woman's position when she was using a contactless "touch-in" device
The safety report said the driver was "unaware that the passenger was in an unsafe position when they made the decision that it was safe for the tram to depart".
Ben Kershaw, safety director at tram operator KeolisAmey Metrolink, said the tram network "remains amongst the safest public transport systems in the UK" and similar incidents "are rare".
He added: "However, we believe every incident is an opportunity to enhance passenger safety and we will build on the findings to drive continuous improvements on our network and across the wider light rail industry."
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