Isle of Man’s Department of Infrastructure has been fined £18,000 plus costs after admitting to five health and safety breaches regarding the August 2017 incident which saw a tram run out of control down the mountain, overshooting the stop at Bungalow. At a recent court case the DoI admitted to the breaches which related to the safety of the crew and passengers – but none of these charges related to the braking system.
The DoI were initially hit with 17 charges (15 counts of failure to discharge a duty and two failing to adhere to regulations) but the 12 of these were withdrawn by the Health and Safety Inspectorate with the remainder being admitted by the department. These charges related to staff training, the provision of speedometer and a communications buzzer.
In the incident – which involved no. 2 on 4th August 2017 – the tram lost braking towards the top of the mountain with eye witnesses at the time describing the crew trying to use the emergency fell braking system to bring the tram to a halt. This was eventually done just the other side of the road crossing at Bungalow.
The Department of Infrastructure released a statement: “The government fully accepts the findings of the court and is very sorry for the distress caused to passengers on board at the time of the incident. All recommendations from the investigation have been implemented and significant safety improvements were made to the Snaefell Mountain Railway before it opened this Easter. In addition to these changes, and despite none of the charges referring to the tram’s three braking systems, work is currently ongoing to install a fourth system in addition to those already fitted. We know that the incident caused a great deal of upset and would like to apologise to those on board at the time.”
In total the DoI were fined £18,000 plus prosecution costs of over £4,000.