Transport for London (TfL) and operators of London Tramlink, Tram Operations Limited (TOL) have been fined a total of £14 million after admitting to health and safety breaches at the Central Criminal Court (the Old Bailey). The decision to prosecute was taken by the Office of Road and Rail (ORR) and comes a few months after the driver of the tram, Alfred Dorris, was cleared of charges against him.
On 9th November 2016, London Tramlink tram 2551 came off the rails at Sandilands when travelling towards central Croydon. Seven people tragically lost their lives in the accident with 19 receiving serious injuries. An investigation by the RAIB concluded that it happened because the tram was travelling at three times the line speed with the driver having become disorientated as to where he was.
Both TfL and TOL admitted to the health and safety breach charges which were brought by the ORR. This alleged that they had failed to do everything that was reasonably practicable to ensure the safety of passengers on the tram network. It was said that neither company had performed a suitable of sufficient assessment of the risks of a high-speed derailment on the network.
TfL were fined £10 million (as owners and maintainers of the Tramlink infrastructure) and operators TOL £4 million. The fine to TfL is the largest to come from a transport health and safety prosecution. Both parties were also ordered to pay £500,000 in costs.
Ian Prosser CBE, Chief Inspector of Railways, said: “When faced with the evidence of their failure over a number of years, both TfL and TOL accepted that they had not done everything that was reasonably practicable to ensure the safety of their passengers, with terrible consequences on the early morning of 9 November 2016. We must never forget the tragedy of that day, and must strive to learn all of its lessons so there can be no repetition. Our thoughts remain with those whose lives were so affected. The judge’s remarks and the sentences imposed underline to the corporate defendants and the whole industry that their first responsibility is to ensure the safety of their passengers and staff. We welcome the improvements made to the network since the incident. We will continue to scrutinise this vital industry and hold operators to account if they fall short.”
Since the accident new safety measures and systems have been implemented on the network after recommendations came out of the RAIB report. This includes new systems to prevent trams overspeeding around tight curves, improvements in managing driver attentiveness and more signage and chevrons at Sandilands curve and other high risk areas on the system.