Report 01/2021: Person struck by a train at Eden Park station
Person struck by a train at Eden Park station, south-east London, 26 February 2020.
Summary
At around 19:05 hrs on Wednesday 26 February 2020, a passenger train struck and fatally injured a person who had just fallen from platform 1 of Eden Park station.
The person, who had impaired vision, moved near to, and fell from, the platform edge probably because his visual impairment meant he was unaware that he was close to this edge. The platform edge was not fitted with markings intended to assist visually impaired people.
Following the accident, emergency services staff were unable to determine whether the third rail traction power supply had been turned off until a member of Network Rail staff arrived on-scene. This resulted in a delay of over 12 minutes between London Ambulance Service staff arriving at the scene and accessing the track to provide medical care.
The combined effect of DfT, ORR, RSSB, Network Rail and Southeastern Railway guidance and processes meant that safety-based justifications for platform edge markings (including tactile surfaces) to aid visually impaired people, were not always effectively considered by the railway industry.
Recommendations
The report makes six recommendations. The first and second are addressed to DfT and Network Rail, firstly to seek improvements in the processes that govern when tactile surfaces at the edge of station platforms should be installed, and secondly to develop a plan for installing tactile surfaces at higher priority locations in a timely manner across the railway network. The third is addressed to the Rail Delivery Group to develop means of reducing the risk to visually impaired people using station platforms where tactile surfaces have not yet been installed. The fourth is addressed to ORR and seeks improvements in the information made publicly available to help visually impaired people to decide whether it is safe to travel. The fifth is addressed to RSSB, to develop processes to ensure that the rail industry has sufficient information, guidance and decision-support tools to fully address the safety risks associated with disabled people using the railway.
A sixth recommendation is addressed to the British Transport Police, National Fire Chiefs Council, Association of Ambulance Chief Executives, London Fire Brigade, London Ambulance Service and Network Rail to improve the processes associated with emergency services staff responding to incidents on the national rail network.
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.