Derailment at Chancery Lane station, Saturday 25 January 2003: HSE issues investigation update

HSE press release E014:03 - 28 January 2003

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today issued an update on its ongoing investigation into the recent derailment of a London Underground Limited (LUL) train.

At around 13.50 on Saturday 25 January a westbound Central Line train derailed as it came into Chancery Lane station. The train had around 800 passengers on board, and the last four cars of the eight-car train were derailed. Although there was little structural damage, five of the cars were damaged due to impact with the tunnel wall and station platform, with one of the doors being ripped off and a number of windows broken. 32 passengers received relatively minor injuries such as cuts, bruises and, in one case, a broken wrist. Passengers on the train were evacuated promptly by LUL staff (including the driver). There was no fire, although the derailment generated a lot of dust.

Staff from HM Railway Inspectorate (HMRI) attended site on Saturday afternoon to conduct an investigation into the causes of the incident. They were joined by engineers from HSE's Health and Safety Laboratory the following day. Site investigations were completed yesterday afternoon (Monday 27 January) and the site has been handed back to LUL.

Initial investigation has identified that the driver had been made aware of excessive noise from the train during the journey, and had contacted the LUL Control Centre. The Control Centre arranged that the train would terminate at Holborn, where it would be possible to detrain the passengers. Chancery Lane is the station immediately before Holborn.

At present it is not thought that the condition of the track was a contributory factor. Initial indications are that the derailment was caused by a traction motor falling onto the track from beneath the fifth carriage of the train.

The traction motors are slung underneath the train and are secured by four main bolts. There have been two previous incidents of a motor either falling off, or becoming dislodged from, Central Line stock, as a result of which LUL instigated remedial measures, including checking all motor securing bolts every five days. The motor bolts on this particular train had been checked 48 hours before the derailment. The Central Line rolling stock is around 10 years old.

LUL has now withdrawn the Central Line fleet from service. There has been an agreement that they will not be returning the rolling stock (which also runs on the Waterloo & City Line) to service until there have been detailed discussions with HSE on their proposals. LUL are not yet able to say when services on the Central Line will be restored.

The maintenance of the Central Line fleet is the responsibility of Infraco BCV. Under the terms of the Public-Private Partnership for LUL, this company is due to be transferred to Metronet shortly. This required a change to LUL's statutory Railway Safety Case, which HSE accepted last year (see press notice E134:02 of 10 July 2002 on HSE's web site at http://www.hse.gov.uk/press/2002/e02134.htm).

The train and associated debris, including the motor, has been taken into HSE possession and is in the process of being removed to an LUL depot. HSE engineers will then examine the rolling stock in more detail, including issues of crashworthiness and means of escape. It is anticipated that this work may take up to four weeks.

Further investigation will also include interviews with key personnel such as the driver, Control Centre staff, maintenance staff etc, as well as examination of train maintenance records, the data recorder from the train and any relevant voice tapes. Discussions will also be held with trades union safety representatives and the London Transport Users Committee. Throughout the investigation so far HSE has received full co-operation from LUL.

This information will be updated as the investigation progresses.

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