Systems 'inherently unsafe' in Welshpool rail crossing crash
Rail passengers were injured when their train struck a farm trailer at a crossing in Mid Wales where the system in use was "inherently unsafe", according to an accident report released today.
Two of those hurt needed hospital treatment after the accident involving an Arriva Trains Wales train near Welshpool.
The tractor driver and two other people nearby suffered minor injuries in the collision which caused significant damage to the front of the train, the report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch said.
It happened just before noon on July 16 last year at Buttington Hall crossing and involved a train travelling from Birmingham International station to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli in Wales, with 140 passengers and two crew members aboard.
Passengers on the train, which had passed through Telford and Shrewsbury, spoke of hearing an "almighty bang" when the collision happened.
On the day of the accident, the farm crossing was being used by tractors bringing in a harvest from fields on the opposite side of the line to the farm.
The farmer had appointed a contractor to carry out the harvesting operation, and an attendant had been provided at the crossing to phone the signaller and operate the gates.
The RAIB said: "The accident occurred because the system of work in use at the crossing was inherently unsafe, leading to ineffective control of road vehicle movements over the crossing and frequent use of the crossing without the signaller being contacted. This system broke down."
The RAIB also listed "underlying management factors". It said the harvest contractor did not implement an effective safe system of work at the crossing and that Network Rail's (NR) process for risk assessment of these types of crossing did not adequately deal with periods of intensive use.
Listing a number of safety recommendations, the report also said that NR's instructions to users of these crossings did not cover periods of intensive use.
Ten men have denied endangered the safety of train passengers and crew.
Tractor driver Ifan Gwyn Evans, 28, of Penyffordd, Llanfyllin, and co-defendant John Elwyn Roberts, 74, of Oldford Rise, Welshpool, appeared at Mold Crown Court in January and pleaded not guilty. The trial is expected to take place in June.
The line between Shrewsbury and Machynlleth was closed for several hours while the tractor was removed. The train, which had been travelling at about 70mph, was partially derailed but remained upright.
