Investigators discover track ‘irregularity’ near site of UK train derailment
Officials examine CCTV footage of area around incident in East Sussex that injured 30 people
Investigators have identified a track “irregularity” near the point where a train derailed in East Sussex last week, leaving 20 people needing hospital treatment.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch said on Wednesday that CCTV footage obtained after the derailment of a London Victoria to Eastbourne service on Thursday August 13 showed “a track geometry irregularity existed on the immediate approach to the point of derailment”.
In an interim report, investigators also said they had observed marks “consistent with the wheels of the derailed rear vehicles having climbed over the rails”.
The embankment on which the railway runs was not found to have experienced any “significant” slip prior to the accident, though investigators found “evidence that some movement had previously taken place”.
Following the incident, RAIB said it had received several reports of “rough riding” — meaning passengers had experienced bumpy or uncomfortable journeys — at the site of the derailment near Lewes.
Around 150 people were on the train when it derailed, with 30 sustaining injuries and 20 requiring hospital treatment, they said.
Xueyu Geng, a professor in ground engineering at the University of Warwick, said it was “very clear” from photographs of the scene that buckling — when steel railway tracks begin to curve owing to high temperatures — had taken place.
Such incidents are “extremely serious”, Geng said.
She added that the UK’s rail infrastructure needs to “adapt to more extreme temperatures” as well as increased rainfall if it is to prevent similar accidents in the future.
Investigators have obtained the train’s “black box”, containing signalling data and radio communications, which will be subject to analysis.
The officials added that the investigation will consider a number of potential issues, including the sustained hot weather at the time.
The railway between Lewes and Haywards Heath has been closed since the incident. Southern Railway is telling passengers to expect “major disruption” and to check for service updates ahead of travel.
Recovery of the train was likely to be “complex” as it would entail lifting the derailed vehicles by crane and transporting them by road to secure storage, the officials said.
On Friday, a second passenger train derailed, with a Greater Anglia train coming off the track at Wickford in Essex.
Lucy McAuliffe, route director for Sussex at Network Rail, and John Whitehurst, chief executive of Greater Thameslink Railway, said in a joint statement that they were “fully committed to supporting the continuing investigation and acting on any lessons that emerge from its findings”.
“We are very sorry that this happened on our railway. Our thoughts remain with everyone affected, especially those who were injured and the family and friends of those on board the train,” they said.