Statement on the train derailment at Grayrigg in Cumbria

The Secretary of State for Transport, Douglas Alexander: Mr Deputy Speaker, with permission I would like to make a statement on the train derailment, which occurred near Grayrigg in Cumbria on Friday evening.

The House will be aware that at approximately 20.15hrs on Friday night the 23 February 2007, the 17.15 Virgin West Coast service from London to Glasgow derailed just beyond the points at Lambrigg near Grayrigg. 

The train was travelling at around 95 miles per hour. At the time there were 111 passengers and 4 crew on board.

One passenger, Margaret Masson, from Glasgow, sadly died shortly after the accident. Twenty two people were taken to hospital, including the driver. Mr Deputy Speaker, five people remain in hospital and three remain in a critical condition.

Mr Deputy Speaker, both sides of the House will wish to join me in expressing our deepest sympathy to those who have been bereaved or seriously injured, and to friends and relatives. 

Mr Deputy Speaker, I would like to praise the work of Cumbria Police, Fire and Rescue and Ambulance Services, and indeed the RAF, who worked closely together to respond with well prepared contingency plans in very difficult circumstances.

And we must also thank the staff of the National Health Service for their care and dedication, as well as the local people who came out to help those involved at the scene of the accident.

Mr Deputy Speaker, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch arrived at the scene at 23.35 and immediately began an investigation to identify the causes of the accident.

The RAIB investigation is running independently and in parallel with the investigations of the British Transport Police and Her Majesty's Rail Inspectorate. The Inspectorate as Safety Regulator will continue to check that the network is safe and to enforce any breaches of safety legislation. The British Transport Police will be investigating whether there are any breaches of criminal law.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I have been in close contact over the weekend with the RAIB's Chief Inspector, Carolyn Griffiths and I would now like to update the House on its interim report following the first 48 hours of its investigation.

Copies of that report have been placed in the library and are publicly available.

The report states that: The scope of the RAIB investigation into the accident at Grayrigg includes both the design, performance, inspection and maintenance of points at Lambrigg, and the behaviour of the vehicles, including interior fittings after they derailed until they came to rest.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I will deal first with the behaviour of the vehicles, where the report states: There is no evidence available to indicate that the journey prior to the derailment had been other than normal.

And the report goes on to state: There was substantial damage to the train.  However, all carriages retained their basic structural integrity of the passenger compartment.  The RAIB has yet to carry out its inspection of any of the carriage interiors.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I will now turn to where the report deals with the points.

The report states that: The current focus of the RAIB's investigation relates to the condition of the Lambrigg 2B points at the site of the derailment. Indications are that these points were the immediate cause of the derailment. No evidence has been found to date that indicates the driving of the train, the condition of the train, or the signalling control system contributed to the accident.

The report then goes on to give a detailed description of the design and condition of the facing points at Lambrigg, and concludes: the immediate cause of the accident was the condition of the stretcher bar arrangement at points 2B at Lambrigg crossover which resulted in the loss of gauge separation at the point of switch blades.

Let me read to the House what the RAIB have to say about the points. "Investigation of the locking and stretcher bars in the facing points at Lambrigg crossover showed that one of three stretcher bars was missing, and bolts that secured the lock bar and another stretcher bar were not in place – some of these bolts and the associated nuts and washers were found in the ballast, but others were not.  There is no evidence that the bolts had been wrenched free.  Two of the stretcher bars were fractured; in one case the nature of the fracture surface indicates that it may have been consequential to the derailment.  In the other case the fracture surface indicates that it may have pre-dated the derailment. The latter will be confirmed by further analysis".

Mr Deputy Speaker, having come to these initial findings, the RAIB is able to give urgent safety advice to the industry and make recommendations as appropriate.

The RAIB has not taken such action at this stage of the investigation.

On Saturday, Network Rail decided to complete an inspection of more than 900 similar points on other high speed lines around the country.

Mr Deputy Speaker, following the derailment, the Office of Rail Regulation as safety regulator has been monitoring the situation and is satisfied with the actions taken by Network Rail to ensure that the Railway is safe to operate.

In particular, the ORR supports Network Rail's precautionary inspection of the 900 points across the network which are similar to the ones which form part of the investigation.

Mr Deputy Speaker, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch will now continue its investigation on all aspects of the derailment and its consequences, in order to produce a final report.

As they say in their interim report, the RAIB will continue to investigate the immediate and underlying reasons for the condition of the stretcher bars and the behaviour of the rolling stock in the extreme conditions of a high speed derailment.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch's final report will take some months to prepare. Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, in light of their interim report we know how the accident happened. Now we and the traveling public need to know why. Let me assure the House if in the course of their investigations the investigators discover something which needs to be done to improve safety, it will be done immediately.

Delivered: 26 February 2007