£3.6m fine after train cleaner electrocuted near Hastings

West Marina Depot at St Leonards

A train operator and a cleaning company have been fined £3.6m after a worker was electrocuted on the railway.

Roger Lower, 46, had been washing down trains at a depot in East Sussex, but was found lying on a 750-volt live rail and pronounced dead at the scene.

The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) investigated Southeastern and Wetton Cleaning Services Limited and exposed a "culture of cutting corners".

Southeastern has conceded it could have "done more" to meet safety standards.

Unlike other parts of the UK, which use overhead electrification, railways in the South East use a live rail to supply electricity to trains from the tracks.

Guilford Crown Court heard father-of-two Mr Lower was employed by Wettons for three months before his death on 24 May 2014 at West Marina Depot near Hastings.

Both companies were charged with one count of breaching general duties to an employee and three counts of contravening health and safety regulations.

Cleaners at the depot were supposed to be safeguarded from the live rail by protection boards, but ORR inspectors found the four boards at the depot were not in use.

ORR inspectors found workers being exposed to serious risks due to:

• Reliance on paperwork rather than checking what was actually happening in the depot

• Failing to ensure safe systems were in operation

• Inadequate training and supervision

Southeastern and Wettons were fined £2.5m and £1.1m respectively, and each ordered to pay £162,000 court costs.

Ian Prosser, HM chief inspector of railways, said the failings were "unacceptable and show the consequences of not abiding by health and safety".

Southeastern said lessons had been learned

David Statham, managing director at Southeastern, said: "We deeply regret that we did not prevent the death of Roger Lower. Our thoughts remain with his family for their tragic loss.

"We set ourselves high safety standards underpinned by robust procedures. We recognise that on this occasion there's more we and our contractors could have done to meet those high standards."

The company commissioned an independent review after Mr Lower's death and has introduced extra safety checks and equipment.

Wettons has been contacted for a comment.

More than 90 people have been killed on the tracks in the south east of England in the last five years.

A mother who blames her teenage daughter's death on the 80-year-old railway infrastructure called for the third rail system to be overhauled last month.