Railway safety tangle at accident commemoration

Posted on February 21^st 2012

The liability insurance implications of a rail accident eight years ago would have been furthest from people's minds at a commemoration last week. Coincidentally Network Rail announced a programme, costing five million pounds, which will see extra disc brakes being fitted to many road rail vehicles.

The accident in Cumbria claimed the lives of four railway workers when they were hit by an out of control road rail wagon near the village of Tebay. The commemoration was held by the RMT union who used the event to encourage Network Rail to give more solid commitment on the programme to ft safety devices such as warning systems as well as secondary safety systems.

The rail industry is a prime candidate for liability insurance with the problems inherent in dealing with large, heavy vehicles travelling at high speeds and it's a surprise that more accidents don't happen. But that is not to say that those in the industry should be complacent.

This was clearly the feeling of the RMT union who feel that safety failures were clearly to blame for the terrible accident eight years ago. Network Rail said in turn that they had implemented all the recommendations which the Railway Safety and Standards Board made in the wake of the accident and the investigation which followed.

Hopefully the two sides will unite on the projects that Network Rail is working on to improve safety and which they say the RMT are fully engaged in. Either way, improved safety, fewer accidents and fewer liability insurance claims are good for all parties.

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