Take all HSTs out of service until we can be certain they’re safe – our message to the Rail Regulator

TSSA wrote to the Office of Rail and Road on Friday (11 March 2022) demanding all ScotRail’s High Speed Trains be taken out of service.

The union raised the alarm after the RAIB report found evidence of “significant areas of corrosion” in damaged areas of the train’s carriages, including collision pillars designed to protect passengers and staff in the event of the accident. 

The corrosion had been picked up during the Wabtec refurbishment of the coaches in 2019, and repairs authorised, but there is no photographic evidence that the work was done. During the derailment the collision pillars were completely sheared off, causing what the RAIB termed “complete loss of survival space in the leading vestibule of the train.

TSSA General Secretary Manuel Cortes said, “The fact that there is no photographic evidence that Wabtec carried out the corrosion repairs on the derailed HST is a red flag for every other HST currently running.

“We cannot allow possibly unsafe trains to continue to run on Scotland’s railways. I’ve written today to Ian Prosser, the Chief Inspector of Railways and Director of Railway Safety, calling on him to instruct rail companies across Britain - including ScotRail - to withdraw their HSTs from passenger service because of the risk they pose to passengers being able to survive in derailment conditions.

“Frankly, it’s time to ban the HSTs from our railways. They were great in their day, but that day is nearly 50 years ago now and they simply aren’t up to modern safety standards. But at very least, the ORR must take every HST out of service until they can be thoroughly checked for signs of corrosion and necessary repairs made.

“It would be disrespectful to the memories of Brett McCullough, Donald Dinnie and Chris Stuchbury, the driver, conductor and passenger whose lives were lost in the accident if we don’t take action now to ensure accidents like this never happen again.”

Notes 

Manuel’s letter to Ian Prosser is attached.