Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions

Reports on Selby rail/road crash available today
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date 25 Feb 2002 00:00
source Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions
type Press release

Minister for Transport John Spellar today announced that the reports of the two working groups set up in response to the road/rail accident at Great Heck, near Selby, on 28 February 2001, will be made available to the public today.

Mr Spellar, answering a Parliamentary Question from Claire Ward MP, said:

''The reports will be published today. Both reports emphasise how rare this accident was and responses to the risks of a similar accident must be measured. The reports of the two groups contain 19 separate recommendations. I have accepted all of them and, in one case, have asked the Highways Agency to adopt the recommended approach more widely and, in another, have asked for the recommended work to be expedited. I must stress how important it is that highway authorities and rail infrastructure providers work together to assess the sites on their networks where vehicles might get onto the rail network and to take what action, if any, they consider necessary to try to prevent this. I commend to them the risk assessment framework prepared by the CSS and Railtrack to prioritise any necessary work at local roads over rail bridges. This framework will be developed to cover other circumstances where vehicles might get onto the rail network.

''I accept the conclusion of the Highways Agency report that there are no serious shortcomings in the current standards for safety barriers but nevertheless commend their plans to convene a technical project board to take forward any necessary changes to barrier standards for national roads. I welcome the recommendation of the working group for a clearer and more open procedure for updating the standards relating to safety barriers and have asked the Agency to adopt this more open approach for all standards.

''I have asked that the HSC''s recommended timetable for the development of a protocol to apportion responsibility and costs of improvements made at locations where roads meet, cross or run close to railways should be expedited. This is so as not to delay the carrying out of any necessary work. I have, therefore, decided that the protocol should be developed for England by June 2002. I will review the working of this protocol, as recommended by the HSC, once action on the other recommendations is underway. The work necessary to implement the 19 recommendations of the two reports will be steered by my Department and I have asked for a report on progress by 25 July 2002.''

Notes to editors [[URLs below are no longer live. See related documents.]]

1. The Highways Agency report is available to download at www.highways.gov.uk

2. The HSE report is available to download at www.hse.gov.uk/railway/obstruct.pdf and as a printed item from HSE Books (tel 01787 881165 fax 01787 313995 or www.hsebooks.co.uk) ISBN 07176 2294 0 price #5.00

3. A copy of the risk assessment framework prepared by the CSS and Railtrack is available to download at www.dtlr.gov.uk

E-mail: press@dtlr.gov.uk Public Enquiries: 020 7944 3000 DTLR website: http://www.dtlr.gov.uk

Railhub Archive ::: 2002-02-25 DTR-002