Passengers on a speeding train from York to King’s Cross were hurt after being thrown from their seats, an investigation has found.
It happened on Thursday, 4 May last year, when the 9.54am Grand Central service from Sunderland to London King’s Cross hit 66mph at Spital Junction, Peterborough.
The speed limit over the junction begins at 30mph and reduces to 25mph.
“The speed of the train over the junction resulted in sudden sideways movements of the coaches,” said a new report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB).
“This led to some passengers being thrown from their seats, with some receiving minor injuries.”
The driver then applied the emergency brake, bringing the train to a halt on Platform 1 of Peterborough Station. The service was not due to stop at Peterborough.
“Grand Central advised RAIB that there were no faults showing on the train’s management system and that it was running on all five engines, giving it maximum acceleration capability,” the report says.
The driver involved had been driving trains since 2010, and had worked for Grand Central since 2013.
The driver took over the controls at York at 11.21am.
“The driver reported the incident to one of the signallers and to Cross County control and was relieved of duty at Peterborough. The service was taken forward 20 minutes later by the other driver who was travelling on the train.”
Breathalyser and drugs tests both cleared the driver following the incident.
The report found that the driver had reacted inappropriately to a signal, in part because the advanced warnings were ineffective.
“The driver’s expectation was that the train was being routed straight ahead and their application of driving awareness skills was not sufficient to overcome that expectation,” the RAIB said.
“A similar incident occurred at the same location, 13 months before this incident. Following this more recent incident, RAIB issued urgent safety advice in May 2023 to Network Rail and operators of trains on the East Coast Main Line through Peterborough station.”
The RAIB has made four recommendations to prevent a similar incident recurring.
Grand Central has advised RAIB that since this incident it has retrained and reassessed the driver, who is now back on driving duty.
And the company has “issued a safety operational notice to its drivers to highlight the importance of actively looking for all parts of a signal”.