The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has made safety recommendations in a report, after a signal technician lost a leg in a rail accident in May 2008.

The injured technician was working on a set of points at Kennington junction, south of Oxford, at about 9.45pm, when a First Great Western London to Oxford train travelling at 89mph struck him – two people working with the technician were not hurt.

ThisisOxfordshire reports that the ‘immediate cause’ of the accident was the failure of the technician to move off the tracks to a safe position when a lookout warned of an approaching southbound freight train. Shortly after the warning, the signal technician was hit by the train.

The report recommended Network Rail should investigate working methods ‘to provide better protection’ to staff undertaking track maintenance work.

A spokesman for Network Rail, Russell Spink, said in response to the report’s recommendations:

‘Network Rail is committed to providing a safe, reliable and efficient modern railway.

‘Our safety record is good and injuries among our workforce are rare – Network Rail has worked with RAIB throughout its investigation.

‘We welcome the final report and will give serious consideration to any recommendations which will reduce the risk of similar incidents occurring in the future.’

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