Fireball rail crash due to lax bridge inspection

Published on Wednesday 3 February 2010 21:49

THE failure to spot serious corrosion of a railway bridge caused its collapse and a fuel train to crash in darkness and burst into flames, investigators have found.

The official report into the incident near Kilmarnock in Ayrshire was described yesterday as "damning" of Network Rail.

Local SNP MSP Willie Coffey said it had been "sheer luck" the bridge had not collapsed minutes later when a passenger train carrying hundreds of commuters was due to have crossed it.

The government's rail accident investigation branch also revealed that the crash at Stewarton in January last year had caused 220,000 litres of diesel and kerosene to leak from the ten-wagon train, causing major pollution to rivers which killed fish and wildlife.

Kerosene leaking from the rear wagon ignited – possibly from sparks in the derailment – sending flames 50ft into the air.

The train driver, whose locomotive was not derailed, said he had seen an orange glow in the sky at the rear of the train after the crash just before 6:15am.

No-one was injured but the line was shut for nearly three weeks.

The report said the train was derailed by corrosion significantly weakening the east and centre main girders on the 130-year-old bridge, over the A735 Stewarton-Kilmarnock road.

However, the corrosion was hidden because of the way the bridge had been modified in the past. Reports of defects were also not acted on because the bridge's strength had been miscalculated.

Investigators found the hidden parts of the girders were not included in inspections, while information about the state of the bridge was overlooked because it was due to have been replaced.

The report's 11 recommendations included checks on other bridges at risk from hidden corrosion, and an overhaul of Network Rail's inspection regime.

Mr Coffey, the Kilmarnock and Loudoun MSP, said lives had been put at risk by the maintenance failures. He said: "This is a damning report, which demands an explanation at the highest level in Network Rail and all those concerned with rail safety.

"People's lives were put at risk here. And I am astounded that reports about corrosion to the main girders were not actioned."

Network Rail said it had checked 575 other bridges with potentially hidden parts, including 129 in Scotland, but none was found to be in a similar condition to the one at Stewarton.

A spokesman said: "Although the bridge had previously been inspected (in February 2008], the style of construction of the bridge meant this internal main girder was not open to inspection.

"As a result of this incident, we have reviewed the way we examine bridges of a similar style. We have made changes to our inspection procedures so that bridge inspectors are required to expose hidden critical elements of the bridge during examination."

Liberal Democrat transport spokeswoman Alison McInnes welcomed the action but called for more frequent inspections.