The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has completed an investigation into a near-miss involving track workers at Bookham, Surrey, and has issued a report and recommendations.

The incident occurred at around 11:42 on 29th April 2025, when a passenger train in Bookham Tunnel was involved in a near miss with three track workers walking through the Tunnel, on the approach to Bookham station in Surrey. The train was travelling at 33 mph, and as it passed the workers, they either moved to refuges inside the tunnel or stood against the tunnel wall.

Investigations revealed that although part of the line was blocked to trains, the workers were walking in a different location, but neither the workers nor the signaller who had granted the blockage realised this.

The mistake arose because the safety arrangements for the task should have been contained in a safe work pack, but the pack that was issued incorrectly contained line blockage arrangements for the nearby Mickleham Tunnel. The incorrect contents of the safe work pack had been introduced during planning for the work, but were not noticed, even though the pack was checked multiple times during various stages of the safe work process.

At the heart of the error were two underlying factors, one being that Network Rail did not have a specific process for managing the transfer of information between its asset management systems and the system it uses for producing safe work packs. The second was that some parts of Network Rail’s procedure for producing safe work packs were either not always carried out or not carried out effectively.

Following its investigation, RAIB issued three recommendations to Network Rail:

• Act to reduce the risk of errors when information from multiple systems is used to produce a safe work pack.
• Network Rail is to improve its process when work takes place on or near operational railway lines.
• Network Rail is to improve its assurance activities through better use of the information provided by its safe system of work planning software.

Two learning points were also identified:

• Track workers and signallers are to be reminded that during safety-critical communications, clarity and effective listening are crucial for a clear and unambiguous understanding of agreements.
• Staff who plan work on or near the line, and those delivering that work, are to be reminded that they should have a clear understanding of how all planned activities will be undertaken.

The issue of this report follows the release last week of a preliminary examination into a collision at Queen’s Park in North London, and a preliminary examination into a near miss with staff at London Bridge Station in July last year.