ABSTRACT

The technical knowledge and experience of the long-established Railway Inspectorate now transferred to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was now combined with the diverse engineering and scientific expertise of the national safety regulator, a powerful force for change. The HSE soon found there were numerous safety problems besetting this venerable industry. Alarmingly, when the HSE became more closely involved, we found that in the absence of a train protection system which would bring trains to a halt if drivers ran past a red light never deliberately but for a variety of possible reasons Signals Passed at Danger (SPADs) were a common occurrence. Several hundred were reported every year and inquiry after inquiry had recommended installation of an Automatic Train Protection System (ATP). Such a recommendation had been made again after the crash at Colwich Junction. The Railway Safety Regulations of 1999 required the fitting of a Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) to all passenger lines by 2003.