The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is to investigate an incident on Friday 10 February in which a train struck debris in Oxfordshire.
The incident took place at around 18:40 hrs on Friday 10 February 2023 on the single line at Yarnton, a village located between Oxford and Charlbury. The 17:34 hrs Great Western Railway service from London Paddington to Hereford struck brick rubble when travelling at around 55 mph (89 km/h). The rubble had fallen onto the track from a wing wall adjacent to the line, which formed part of a local road bridge which passes over the railway.
No traincrew or passengers were injured. The train did not derail, but did sustain damage.
Network Rail reopened the line two days later, on Sunday 12 February. However, it closed it again just a few hours later, and the closure continued for nine more days while work was carried out to stabilise an adjacent embankment and protect a gas main exposed by the landslip.
The RAIB has announced that it is to carry out its investigation independently of investigations carried out by the Office of Rail and Road or the railway industry. It states that its investigation will seek to identify the sequence of events which led to the incident.
Additionally, the RAIB investigation will look into the history of the road bridge structure, including when and how the wing wall may have been modified or repaired, and will examine the findings of and responses to inspections of the structure. It will scrutinise a report made before the incident of cracks in the road approaching the bridge on the embankment next to it. The investigation will also consider whether there are any underlying management factors.
The RAIB has not indicated how long it expects its investigation to take place, but will publish its findings, including any recommendations to improve safety, once it has concluded it, and will publish it on its website.
Poor maintenance of lineside infrastructure has allowed deterioration to be hidden from view. It’s significant that the problem only became apparent due to cracks appearing in the roadway – the one part of the structure that was visible. The wing walls are covered in brambles that have been allowed to run rampant, as we see all over the railway network. Bramble is an invasive plant that specialises in colonising neglected areas, with roots that permit moisture to penetrate into earth cuttings and embankments as well as brickwork, weakening structures like bridges and brick walls.
Brambles, buddleia, ash and suchlike should not be tolerated alongside railways. Network Rail needs to get a grip and take vegetation management seriously. Remote monitoring alone can ever pick up deep-rooted, slowly developing problems of this kind – it needs the Mk 1 Eyeball of trained people on the ground to assess the state of the lineside step by step.
Very good point. The railway needs frequent and thorough routine inspection and maintenance, rather than leaving things to deteriorate until accidents like this happen.