Report 04/2013: Derailment of a tram at East Croydon
Tram derailed after passing over facing points as it approached the platform at East Croydon, 17 February 2012.
On 17 February 2012 at about 06:23 hrs, a westbound tram derailed after passing over facing points as it approached the platform at East Croydon. The tram was running one minute behind the tram ahead, and was routed left to follow it towards platform 3. As the tram travelled forwards at low speed, the points moved under its leading bogie, forcing its centre and rear bogies right towards platform 2. The centre bogie derailed as the routes diverged. Approximately 100 passengers were detrained close to the platform. There were no reported injuries.
The main cause of this accident was that a track circuit failed to respond to an approaching tram and lock the points to prevent movement. The track circuit was not correctly adjusted and the rail head may have been contaminated with silt. The RAIB also found that system integration was inadequate.
RAIB has made three recommendations to London Tramlink that focus on operational and signalling arrangements, the control of silt and rail head contamination, and track circuit settings.
Response to recommendations:
- RAIB will periodically update the status of recommendations as reported to us by the relevant safety authority or public body
- RAIB may add comment, particularly if we have concerns regarding these responses.