A near-miss collision with a train heading to Dublin's Heuston Station was caused by a "blatant rule book violation" that could have led to derailment.
A report into the incident on the Cork to Dublin railway in 2021 revealed that it left railway workers "badly shaken up". An investigation was carried out by the Railway Accident Investigation Unit into the incident on August 27 2021.
The empty train travelling from Limerick Junction to Heuston Station was involved in a collision in Co Kildare. The incident happened when contractors had been employed to replace a section of the rail.
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They were working on the track after being given the "good-to-go" by the Engineering Supervisor, who "erroneously" thought the last train of the day had passed. Just after midnight, the contractors saw the lights of a train and had to quickly get off the track as the vehicle travelled at 145km/h towards them.
The train struck a clamp that was placed on the rail for the replacement works. The driver brought the train to a stop and contacted the Mainline Signalman to report that the train had struck something on the line and a number of staff had had to rush to safety.
The rail line was "significantly damaged," a wheel on the train needed to be replaced, and it was concluded that "under slightly different circumstances" it could have led to serious injuries, death or derailment. The Engineering Supervisor who gave the workers the go-ahead to begin work was found to not have had a T3 Possession at the time, a measure which stops trains from passing through an engineering site.
None of the Iarnród Éireann staff or contractors were physically injured as a result of the accident, although some of the staff stated that they suffered from shock. While the contracted workers asked to be stood down as they were "badly shaken up by the accident," the Engineering Supervisor felt that the staff could not be replaced at such short notice and works re-commenced after 1am.
The report found that there was an "authority gradient" where staff "did not feel empowered to challenge the suggestion of a supervisor to behave in an unsafe manner." The report concluded that staff "initially downplayed the accident, with inference given that a small bolt had struck Train J283 and not a piece of equipment that had been clamped to the rail."
It found that the Engineering Supervisor "was attempting to conceal his previous actions in terms of allowing the work party access the work site prior to... being authorised" and that "none of the staff present on the night of the accident, carrying out the rail replacement works, had the required competency" as set out in the Technical Management Standard. The investigators found that "this accident illustrated blatant disregard for the IÉ Rule Book, and the events which occurred afterwards, in terms of attempting to conceal the severity of the accident, indicate that the level of supervision, at the time of the accident, was not appropriate."
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When investigating the accident, they said "it became apparent, from evidence that emerged during interviews with the staff involved, that this incident was far more serious than what was first reported, "Progress of the investigation was hampered by a lack of candour" and "There were “misleading statements”, “untruths” or staff being “unable to remember” or deliberately only providing “partial information”."
Five Iarnród Éireann Infrastructure Manager staff were suspended as the investigation progressed; two were able to resume their substantive roles. A number of staff were disciplined and sanctioned, and additional training was also given.
The Commission for Railway Regulation said the "small but not insignificant number of blatant rule book violations” meant that Iarnród Éireann was non-compliant with the Railway Safety Act 2005 and was recommended to enhance its confidential reporting system to ensure all staff can report issues related to safety and welfare and "eliminate on-site authority gradients whereby staff cannot challenge supervisors."
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