The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has released a report into an unsafe train movement in May 2023.
At around 15:26 on the 3rd May 2023 at Styal station, a Northern train departed the station with five doors open.
Immediately before the incident, the train, a 3-car Class 323, experienced technical difficulties which meant that the brakes were unable to be released and power applied.
As a result, Northern control told the driver to isolate the safety systems relating to the doors and allow the train to move.
This didnt fix the problem, however, after further checks, the train became able to move.
The train travelled for around 10 seconds with five doors open.
Once the train had reached 3.1mph, a safety system caused the doors to close automatically.
No one was hurt in the incident, however, people were moving towards the train and a passenger was standing in an open doorway when the train began to move.
The incident occurred because the safeguards on the train to prevent the train from departing with the doors open had been bypassed to rectify a fault.
The train departed without the driver having an indication that the dispatch process had been complete.
The RAIB has made three recommendations:
- The first seeks to improve the management of the risk of trains being in operational service with known intermittent faults.
- The second recommendation considers how the operational risk of trains being in service with safety systems isolated is managed.
- The third recommendation looks to provide operational staff with the skills and strategies to manage out-of-course incidents and stressful situations.
Responses
Surely the conductor on the platform should not have released the train before the doors had closed they are supposed to signal and sound to confirm it’s safe to leave?? Either this wasn’t released by a conductor and just set off without warning or the conductor on the platform hadn’t done their job properly??
Yes, because who needs guards on trains??…..
A LIGHT SHOULD OF BEEN ON IN THE DRIVERS CAB TO TELL THE DRIVER THAT THE DOORS HAVE NOT CLOSED THE GUARO IS SURPOSE TO CHECKED BEFORE DEPARTURE THAT THEY ARE ALL SHUT AND NOTHI G BLOCKING THE DOOR WAY’S
Saves turning the aircon on.
In Central Trains days a class 170 at least could not move unless all the doors were proved closed. The driver should have known better than to isolate the system on a passenger service.
Have you actually read this? “Northern control told the driver to isolate the safety systems”. Have you any idea what you’re talking about re 170s not moving with a door open? Jeez.
Actually, the 170 had an issue where if the driver released the brake from the ‘full service’ position to a position just below before the guard released doors, the 170 could move with doors open – a rare scenario admitting but it did happen. I think this got sorted several years ago
Too difficult to read the article, clearly. Another armchair enthusiast thinking they know what they’re talking about.
I was involved in an incident at Leyland train station in the 80s where the train doors closed and the train set off down the track with me hanging outside in the buggy. I was only a baby.
I thought these kind of incidents could have been avoidable by now.
Overriding Safety systems that control unsafe movement of trains is a dangerous activity, the failure to have proper supervision of the overriding of Door and brake systems can have fatal consequences.
Need new trains !
New trains still have the ability to override the same safety systems as in an out of course situation it might be the only way to move the train
It seems main line trains cl 170 37X series trains do not have sensitive edge feature which prevents the train from moving if ny obstruction is caught in the doors with the doors closed and locked,modern London Underground do have this feature built in to the train,why not all trains have it retrofitted at mid life refurbishment.