Porterbrook’s Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre has hosted Network Rail‘s major incident training involving multi-agency partners and emergency services, to exercise the response to a major incident on the railway.

During two separate weeks in March, over three hundred people took part in the Network Rail National Emergency Response and Validation Exercise, representing Train Operating Companies, DB Cargo, British Transport Police and Home Office Police, Ambulance Services, Fire Brigade, Rail Accident Investigation Branch, Department for Transport, Cabinet Office, Office of Rail and Road as well as Network Rail, with members of the general public volunteering as passengers and casualties.

Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre is Porterbrook’s 135-acre rail connected site in Warwickshire. Since taking over the site in June 2021, Porterbrook has spent over £5m to modernise and enhance the facilities which include a 3.5km test track loop, rolling stock storage, an upgraded Asset Management Facility, and a training centre.

The Porterbrook Long Marston operations team played a significant role in organising and delivering the event.

The exercise sought to replicate a mainline incident involving a train and a road vehicle, aiming to test the response of Network Rail and its partners. The exercise also involved video uplink communications with regional responders and the command structure.

Ben Ackroyd, Chief Operating Officer at Porterbrook said: “The railway has an excellent safety record, and while we all hope that we’d never have to deal with real emergency incidents such as this, it is important to be as prepared as possible. We are pleased that Long Marston Rail Innovation Centre and the Porterbrook team have been able to support the industry and the Emergency Services to do that.”