The Office of Rail and Road’s annual safety report shows the UK still has one of the safest railways in the world, but there are serious gaps – not least the one between the press release and the report
This article was first written and set up for publication before the tragic accident at Stonehaven on 12 August. While I stand by every word I wrote, some of that may appear to be speculation ahead of the publication of the official report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch. Consequently, the opening section has been rewritten to stick carefully to the facts, and not mix them with my opinion.
My attention was drawn to the Office of Rail and Road’s annual report ‘Health and Safety Performance on Britain’s Railways 2019/20’ by the press release, which was roughly half devoted Network Rail’s preparedness for climate change, with a reference to CO2 and support for further electrification. Since I have criticised ORR before for its ‘presumption against’ the completion of the third rail network, it crossed my mind that claiming the moral high ground was a bit rich. But on the whole Britain’s railways remain among the safest in the world. I was almost tempted to move on at that point to something more…
