Network Rail Limited is the owner and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Transport with no shareholders, which reinvests its income in the railways.
The Ladbroke Grove rail crash was a rail accident which occurred on 5 October 1999 at Ladbroke Grove in London, England, when a Thames Trains-operated passenger train passed a signal at danger, colliding almost head-on with a First Great Western-operated passenger train. With 31 people killed and 417 injured, it was one of the worst rail accidents in 20th-century British history.
The Hatfield rail crash was a railway accident on 17 October 2000, at Hatfield, Hertfordshire. It was caused by a metal fatigue-induced derailment, killing four people and injuring more than 70.
West Coast Railways (WCR) is a railway spot-hire company and charter train operator based at Carnforth MPD in Lancashire. Using buildings and other facilities previously owned by the Steamtown Carnforth visitor attraction, in June 1998 the company became the first privately owned company to be given a licence as a train operating company.
A signal passed at danger (SPAD) is an event on a railway where a train passes a stop signal without authority. This is also known as running a red, in the United States as a stop signal overrun (SSO) and in Canada as passing a stop signal. SPAD is defined by Directive 2014/88/EU as any occasion when any part of a train proceeds beyond its authorised movement. Unauthorised movement means to pass:
The Ufton Nervet rail crash occurred on 6 November 2004 when a passenger train collided with a stationary car on a level crossing on the Reading–Taunton line near Ufton Nervet, Berkshire, England. The collision derailed the train, and seven people—including the drivers of the train and the car—were killed. An inquest found that all railway personnel and systems were operating correctly, and the crash was caused by the suicide of the car driver.
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways.
Rail Alphabet is a neo-grotesque sans-serif typeface designed by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert for signage on the British Rail network. First used at Liverpool Street station, it was then adopted by the Design Research Unit (DRU) as part of their comprehensive 1965 rebranding of the company. It was later used by other public bodies in the United Kingdom.
A train event recorder – also called On-Train Monitoring Recorder (OTMR), On-Train Data Recorder (OTDR), Event Recorder System (ERS), Event Recorder Unit (ERU), or Juridical Recording Unit (JRU) – is a device that records data about the operation of train controls, the performance of the train in response to those controls, and the operation of associated control systems. It is similar in purpose to the flight data recorder or black box used on aircraft.
The railway signalling system used across the majority of the United Kingdom rail network uses lineside signals to control the movement and speed of trains.
A railway detonator, or fog signal is a coin-sized device that is used as a loud warning signal to train drivers. It is placed on the top of the rail, usually secured with two lead straps, one on each side. When the wheel of the train passes over, it explodes, emitting a loud bang. It was invented in 1841 by English inventor Edward Alfred Cowper.
In the early evening of 8 August 1996, a Class 321 passenger train operated by Network SouthEast travelling from London Euston on the West Coast Main Line Down Slow line at around 110 km/h (68 mph) passed a signal at danger. Having applied the brakes it eventually stopped 203 m (222 yd) past the signal and was traversing the junction between the Down Slow line and the Up Fast line. An empty Class 321 coaching stock train approaching at roughly 80 km/h (50 mph) collided with the stationary passenger train approximately 700 m south of Watford Junction whilst progressing across the connections from the Up Slow line to the Up Fast line.
A near miss, near death, near hit, or close call is an unplanned event that has the potential to cause, but does not actually result in human injury, environmental or equipment damage, or an interruption to normal operation.
The Cowden rail crash occurred on 15 October 1994, near Cowden Station in Kent (UK), when two trains collided head-on, killing five and injuring 13, after one of them had passed a signal at danger and entered a single-line section. The cause was due to a collective of issues; the AWS being inoperative, the signal was dirty and the light intensity was low, and there were no trap points to prevent a train wrongly entering a section against the signal.
One-person operation (OPO), also known as driver-only operation (DOO), one-man operation (OMO), single person train operation (SPTO), or one-person train operation (OPTO), similarly to driver-controlled operation, is operation of a train, bus, or tram by the driver alone, without a conductor.
Automatic block signaling (ABS), spelled automatic block signalling or called track circuit block (TCB) in the UK, is a railroad communications system that consists of a series of signals that divide a railway line into a series of sections, called blocks. The system controls the movement of trains between the blocks using automatic signals. ABS operation is designed to allow trains operating in the same direction to follow each other in a safe manner without risk of rear-end collision.
The Confidential Incident Reporting & Analysis Service (CIRAS), formerly the Confidential Incident Reporting & Analysis System, is a confidential safety reporting service for health, safety and wellbeing concerns raised by workers in the UK transport industry. It is funded by members and run independently, though is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB). The service covers the following sectors: passenger and freight train operators, light rail, Network Rail and its suppliers, London Underground, and Transport for London (TfL) bus operators.
Heritage Operations Processing System, Heritage Ops, short named HOPS, is a web-based tool for the day-to-day running and management of preserved and heritage railways. The system was developed, from a concept drawn up by Danny Scroggins and Luke Cartey.
On 7 March 2015, a steam-hauled charter train passed a signal at danger and subsequently came to a stand across a high-speed mainline junction near Wootton Bassett Junction, Wiltshire, England. Another train, which had right of way, had passed through the junction 44 seconds earlier and no collision occurred nor was any damage done.
Automatic Train Protection (ATP) is a method of beacon based railway cab signalling developed by British Rail. The system is only installed on the Great Western Main Line between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads, and the Chiltern Main Line from London Marylebone to High Wycombe and Aylesbury.
