Track spreading on a set of points at the north end of Sheffield Midland station caused Freightliner’s 02.13 Hope (Earles Sidings) to Dewsbury cement train to derail on 11 November 2020, according to the Rail Accident Investigation Branch.
The train was travelling at around 12mph when the leading right-hand wheel of the 12th of 34 PCA wagons dropped into the space between the running rails. 16 wagons were derailed with one of them falling onto its side. There were no injuries but there was significant damage to the infrastructure which resulted in a partial closure of the northbound route from the station.
An undetected failure of rail fixings meant the track was unable to maintain gauge as the train passed through points 4602. The investigation found that multiple track screws securing baseplates to bearers had failed before the derailment, and that these failures had not been identified by routine visual inspections. Static geometry inspections using a trolley also failed to identify any issues with the track gauge.
Although Network Rail has…
