A RAIL company have been fined £1million after a woman who stuck her head out of a window was killed by a tree branch.
Bethan Roper, 28, suffered fatal head injuries while a passenger on the Great Western Railway (GWR) train travelling at around 75mph.
Bethan Roper stuck her head out of a moving train window and was killed by an overhanging tree branch[/caption]
The 28-year-old was returning home from a day out Christmas shopping[/caption]
Miss Roper was returning home to South Wales on December 1, 2018, from a day out Christmas shopping with friends in Bath, Somerset, when the tragedy struck.
The GWR London Paddington to Exeter service was using carriages fitted with droplight windows to enable passengers to use the handle on the outside when they needed to leave the train at the platform.
Miss Roper had poked her head out of one of these windows
Now, the rail safety watchdog’s chief inspector has described the 28-year-old’s death as “a preventable tragedy”.
GWR was fined £1million as well as £78,000 in costs after prosecution by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).
The ORR is the independent economic and safety regulator for Britain’s railways, and monitor of performance and efficiency for England’s strategic road network.
The train operator also pleaded guilty to breaches of health and safety law as well as railway safety regulations.
In 2016, a passenger died in a similar incident near Balham, south London. Following that accident, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) issued safety recommendations in May 2017.
Although GWR was already aware of a number of previous incidents, the company did not produce a written risk assessment for droplight windows until September 2017.
That assessment identified the hazard as one of the most significant passenger safety risks.
However, ORR later found the assessment to be neither suitable nor sufficient and wrote to GWR to highlight its shortcomings.
But the assessment was not revised in light of ORR’s concerns, and the actions GWR had identified to reduce the risk were not implemented before the fatal accident in 2018.
Miss Roper was fatally injured just a few minutes after the train left Bath when her head was struck by an ash tree branch growing on land adjacent to the line.
A post-mortem examination found Miss Roper had died from head injuries.
As a result of these measures, all rolling stock operated by train companies that had droplight windows has since either been withdrawn from service or fitted with engineering controls to prevent windows being opened while trains are moving.
Following Ms Roper’s death, further safety recommendations were issued across the rail industry, to prevent passengers from leaning out of droplight windows.
Richard Hines, ORR’s Chief Inspector of Railways, said: “Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Bethan Roper.
“Her death was a preventable tragedy that highlights the need for train operators to proactively manage risks and act swiftly when safety recommendations are made to keep their passengers safe.
“Our investigation found that GWR fell short in its responsibilities, and this prosecution reflects the serious consequences of that failure.
“We welcome the actions taken since by GWR and the wider industry to reduce the risks. Safety must always remain the first priority across Britain’s railways.”
A spokesperson for GWR said: “Bethan Roper’s death was a tragic incident, and our thoughts remain with her family and friends.
“We accept the judge’s decision and remain committed to continuously improving passenger and colleague safety across our network.
“In sentencing, the judge recognised our strong safety record both before and after this incident, and the safety of our passengers and colleagues remains our highest priority.”
