Cause of NYMR accident at Grosmont Railway Station revealed
Earlier this year there was a collision between an NYMR locomotive and a stationary carriage
Last updated 23rd Dec 2021
An investigation has revealed the cause of a collsion at Grosmont Railway Station, between a North Yorkshire Moors Railway locomotive and a stationary carriage.
Five minor injuries were reported amongst the 175 passengers on the Whitby service and all were treated at the scene.
There was also some damage to the passenger train coaches, which were removed from service for several weeks to allow for repair and inspection.
An investigation by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch says the accident happened because 'the locomotive was travelling too fast to be able to stop in the distance available when the stationary coaches ahead first came into the driver's view'. It was also due to visibility and the driver being unfamiliar with the locomotive.
In its report, it said:
"The class 20 locomotive, designed in the 1950s, is only fitted with a cab at one end. This means that a driver’s visibility of the line ahead is much more restricted when the nose end is leading, with the driver having to look through a narrow window past the side of the locomotive, in a similar manner to a driver of a steam locomotive.
"The class 20 locomotive involved in the accident was privately owned and was made available for use by the NYMR while some of its own locomotives were undergoing maintenance. It was not scheduled to be used on that day but was required at short notice after the Automatic Warning System (AWS) equipment on the scheduled steam locomotive failed an operational test. AWS equipment is required for NYMR trains operating on Network Rail’s Esk Valley line between Grosmont and Whitby, and the class 20 locomotive had operational AWS equipment to allow it to operate on this section.
"The driver held the competencies required to drive the steam locomotive intended to be used for the first Whitby service that day. Although he had held the relevant competencies to drive diesel-electric locomotives, such as the class 25 and class 37, for about five years, and had driven them on many occasions, he did not hold the specific competency to drive the class 20 being used as a replacement. As a result, he sought the assistance of a traction inspector to accompany him. The traction inspector’s role was not to teach the driver how to drive the locomotive but to assist him in gaining familiarity with the locomotive and its operation and to assess his competence. North Yorkshire Moors Railway explained that it considered that the traction inspector held the overall responsibility for operation of the locomotive by the driver."
You can read the full report here.