Train was stranded on Norfolk - Suffolk border after track damaged by 'unusually high water levels"
A report has been released into an incident which saw a train evacuated in Haddiscoe last year
Last updated 28th Jul 2023
A report has found 'unusually high water levels' were responsible for damaging a section of railway track on the border of Norfolk and Suffolk last year.
A Greater Anglia service between Norwich and Lowestoft got stuck on track near Haddiscoe on the morning of January 30 2022.
The driver had seen the track was flooding and brought it to a stop, but was unable to reverse the engine after the ballast beneath the engine also started to wash away.
The front of the train then started to lean over into a hole that had emerged under the track.
The driver, the train guard and five passengers were evacuated and were unharmed during the incident.
A report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has found high water levels due to a tidal surge and tidal locking were to blame for the flooding, with 'low spots' in local flood defences allowing water to inundate the track.
The RAIB found "Network Rail’s flood risk management processes were not effective at warning that the track at Haddiscoe was at serious risk of flooding."
Investigators have made five recommendations, including that Network Rail and the Environment Agency work closer together to manage flood risk around Haddiscoe.
Network Rail have also been told to bolster their emergency plans for potential flooding in future.