Southeastern and Network Rail have announced that they have put together an action plan on how they can plan for and respond to major incidents. The independent report is published into the Lewisham train disruption during heavy snow in March 2018.

The report has been completed by consultants Arthur D Little and Southwood Rail Consulting. It examines the reasons behind an incident on Friday 2 March, at the end of a week of extremely cold weather. A number of trains became stranded near Lewisham station and passengers climbed down onto the tracks.

Whilst staff worked hard in cold conditions, the investigators identify lessons to be learned in managing disruption.

Network Rail and Southeastern have identified a number of improvements and changes which are already underway:

• Network Rail and Southeastern will deliver new training for more than 3,500 staff.
• Network Rail is investigating expanding the installation of conductor rail heating to include key locations, like Lewisham, which although not prone to freezing.
• Network Rail and Southeastern are working with specialist consultants on planning and preparation for severe weather.
• Southeastern is examining engineering changes to extend train battery life, meaning train communications systems and lighting could stay on longer.
• Southeastern are also improving how we communicate during extreme winter weather.

What did the officials say?

In a joint statement, David Statham, Managing Director of Southeastern, and John Halsall, Network Rail’s South East Route Managing Director, said:

“Winter weather conditions in 2018 were the most challenging we’ve seen in the south east for more than a decade. Unfortunately this led to a very serious incident in Lewisham, and we’re determined to learn from what happened.

“We sincerely apologise to passengers for what was an unpleasant and distressing experience. Our staff worked exceptionally hard in extremely difficult circumstances, but the number of trains involved in this incident made it difficult to co-ordinate a response.

“Both Southeastern and Network Rail are taking steps to minimise the possibility of this happening again. We are improving our management of extreme weather, examining ways to keep the power on when conductor rails fail and updating our procedures for communicating with passengers in an emergency.

“We would like to emphasise that the safest option for passengers is to remain on board and await help, even in the exceptionally unusual scenario of a train getting stuck between stations.”

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