The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has launched an investigation after a near-miss involving two trains at Chalfont & Latimer station.
At around 21:45 on 21st June 2020, a Chiltern Railways passenger train, which was travelling southbound on the Metropolitan line, passed a signal at danger without authority.
The signal was protecting a junction which had a route set for a northbound train to cross in front of the Chiltern Railways service – this train was waiting in Chalfont and Latimer station.
Passing the signal at red resulted in the emergency brakes being applied, with the southbound train stopped 310 metres beyond the signal.
Shortly after this application, the driver reset the brake equipment at the train continued towards Chalfont and Latimer station, which was around 620 metres away.
As a result of the position of the points at the junction, its route towards the station took it onto the northbound line. The northbound London Underground train was still stationary at Chalfont and Latimer station due to its signal changing to red as the Chiltern Railways service had passed a signal at danger.
The two trains stopped about 23 metres apart. There were no injuries reported, but some track equipment was damaged as the southbound train had proceeded through a route it wasn’t set for.
The RAIB investigation into the near-miss at Chalfont and Latimer will look at the sequence of events leading to the signal being passed at danger. It will also look at:
- The actions of the people involved
- Chiltern Railways’ arrangements regarding the training, competence and fitness of its train drivers
- Chiltern Railways’ management of risk
- How risk associated with signals passed at danger by non-London Underground trains is managed on the London Underground network
- Any relevant underlying factors
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Responses
It’s LU track so it would have trainstops, and the train tripcock fitted, so AWS and TPWS is not a consideration.
Depends if the train had AWS fitted or if the track had TPWS installed. Try not to assume the driver was a man, we have women drivers too.
Surely if the train’s brakes we’re automatically applied that should have set alarm bells going in the drivers head, for him to reset & continue is very worrying!
Could of been lot worse but glad that no one wasn’t hurt and it was a near miss incident.