
On 9 November 2016, a
tram
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...
operated by
Tramlink
Tramlink, previously Croydon Tramlink and currently branded as London Trams, is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It is the first operational tram system serving the London region since 195 ...
in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
derailed and overturned on a sharp bend approaching a junction. Of 69 passengers, there were seven fatalities and 62 injured, 19 of whom sustained serious injuries.
[ This was the first tram incident in the United Kingdom in which passengers died since 1959.
The service was running from ]New Addington
New Addington is an area of South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located 5 miles south east of Croydon and is adjacent to the Greater London boundary with Surrey.
History
Until the 1930s, the area now known as New ...
to via Croydon, and was on the approach to Sandilands tram stop
Sandilands tram stop is a light rail stop in the London Borough of Croydon in the southern suburbs of London. It serves the residential area along Addiscombe Road to the east of the centre of the town of Croydon. The tram stop gets its name fro ...
soon after 06:00. The speed limit dropped from to at the junction, but the driver did not slow down significantly.
A Rail Accident Investigation Branch
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is a British government agency that independently investigates rail accidents in the United Kingdom and the Channel Tunnel in order to find a cause, not to lay blame. Created in 2005, it is required b ...
investigation found that the driver of the tram had lost awareness before the crash, possibly as a result of microsleep
A microsleep is a sudden temporary episode of sleep or drowsiness which may last for a few seconds where an individual fails to respond to some arbitrary sensory input and becomes unconscious.International Classification of Sleep Disorders, , pa ...
. It also criticised the lack of signage in advance of the sudden change in speed limit.
An inquest returned verdicts of accidental death on all seven victims. In March 2022, the Office of Rail and Road
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways.
ORR regulates Network Rail by setting its ...
announced that it was to prosecute the driver of the tram, Tram Operations Limited and Transport for London
Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom.
TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...
over the accident. In June 2023, the driver was cleared after a trial at the Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
.
Accident
The accident took place in the dark and during heavy rain at 06:07, on a sharp left curve approaching the points
A point is a small dot or the sharp tip of something. Point or points may refer to:
Mathematics
* Point (geometry), an entity that has a location in space or on a plane, but has no extent; more generally, an element of some abstract topologica ...
where the route from New Addington
New Addington is an area of South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located 5 miles south east of Croydon and is adjacent to the Greater London boundary with Surrey.
History
Until the 1930s, the area now known as New ...
(on which the tram was operating) converges with the line from Beckenham Junction
Beckenham Junction is the main railway and tram station in Beckenham in the London Borough of Bromley, south London. The railway stop is on the Chatham Main Line, down the line from and situated between and . The tram stop is one of the easte ...
and Elmers End
Elmers End is an area of south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, Greater London and formerly part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south of Beckenham, west of Eden Park, north of Monks Orchard and east of ...
. The curve is located in a cutting
Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force.
Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the sca ...
, which comes almost immediately after the line emerges from a series of three tunnels on a straight section of track after leaving Lloyd Park tram stop
Lloyd Park tram stop is a light rail stop that serves Lloyd Park, located in the London Borough of Croydon in south London. It is 200 metres east of the site of the Coombe Road railway station, on the former Woodside and South Croydon Railwa ...
. It has been described as a "sharp bend", and has a speed restriction.
The tram entered the curve at a speed of approximately and derailed, overturning on its right side and coming to a stand beyond the point of derailment, damaging the side of the tram and ejecting several passengers through broken windows. The tram involved was No. 2551, a Bombardier CR4000
The Bombardier CR4000 is a 76% low floor model of the Bombardier Flexity Swift trams operated by Tramlink in London. They are based on and very similar in appearance to the K4000 used on the low-platform routes of the Cologne Stadtbahn network ...
constructed in 1998 by Bombardier Transportation
Bombardier Transportation was a Canadian rolling stock and rail transport manufacturer, with headquarters in Toronto and Berlin. It was one of the world's largest companies in the rail vehicle and equipment manufacturing and servicing industry. ...
, a two-section articulated
An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent coupling in its construction. This coupling works as a large pivot joint, allowing it to bend and turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buse ...
unit with a maximum design speed of .
The emergency services confirmed that 51 people were injured, and initially stated that five had died. The death toll later rose to seven. The victims, six men and a woman, were between 19 and 63 years old. Sixteen of the survivors were described as having serious or life-threatening injuries. The final casualty figures were seven dead and 62 injured, 19 seriously. One person was uninjured.[
It was the deadliest ]tram accident
A tram accident is any accident involving a tram or tram system.
Though tram systems can be environmentally friendly, efficient, and cost effective methods of transport within Urban area, urban areas, issues such as poor maneuverability and lo ...
in the United Kingdom since an accident at Dover in 1917 killed eleven and injured 60, and the first in the United Kingdom in which passengers died since three people died in an accident in Glasgow in 1959.
It is also the deadliest accident on any rail network in the UK since the 2001 Great Heck rail crash
The Selby rail crash (also known as the Great Heck rail crash) was a railway accident that occurred on 28 February 2001 near Great Heck, Selby, North Yorkshire when a passenger train collided with a car which had crashed down a motorway emban ...
.[
]
Aftermath
The injured were taken to St George's Hospital
St George's Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Tooting, London. Founded in 1733, it is one of the UK's largest teaching hospitals. It is run by the St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. It shares its main hospital site i ...
in Tooting
Tooting is a district in South London, forming part of the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is located south south-west of Charing Cross.
History
Tooting has been settled since pre-Anglo-Saxons, Saxon times. The name is of Anglo-Saxon ori ...
, and to Croydon University Hospital
Croydon University Hospital, known from 1923 to 2002 as Mayday Hospital and from 2002 to 2010 as Croydon Hospital, is a large NHS hospital in Thornton Heath in south London, England run by Croydon Health Services NHS Trust. It is a District Gene ...
. As well as the 51 people taken to hospital, seven more made their own way to hospital for treatment. Twenty-two ambulances,[ eight fire engines, and over 70 firefighters from the ]London Fire Brigade
The London Fire Brigade (LFB) is the Fire department, fire and rescue service for London, the capital of the United Kingdom. It was formed by the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act 1865 (28 & 29 Vict. c. 90), under the leadership of superintendent ...
were sent to the scene.[ Assistance was given by ]Croydon Council
Croydon London Borough Council, which styles itself Croydon Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Croydon in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. Croydon is divided into 28 wards, elect ...
, the Red Cross
The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...
, Salvation Army
The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestantism, Protestant Christian church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. It is aligned with the Wesleyan-Holiness movement. The organisation reports a worldwide m ...
and railway chaplains
A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a ho ...
.
FirstGroup
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.[Transport for London
Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom.
TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...]
(TfL), said it was "shocked and saddened by what happened."[ An extra minute was added to the two-minute ]Armistice Day
Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark Armistice of 11 November 1918, the armistice signed between th ...
silence at Croydon Cenotaph
Croydon Cenotaph is a war memorial, in Croydon, London, England. It is located outside the Croydon Clocktower arts complex (historically Croydon Town Hall), on Katharine Street in Croydon.
The cenotaph, made from Portland stone, was designed by ...
. TfL later made an offer to cover the funeral expenses of the victims.[
During the night of 10–11 November, the tram was righted in preparation for removal from the accident site,] and it was removed on the morning of 12 November. The tram had suffered serious damage to its right side, onto which it had overturned.
After the accident, no services operated on the line between East Croydon
East Croydon is a railway station, tram stop and associated bus station in Croydon, Greater London, England. It is located in Travelcard Zone 5. At from , it is the 20th List of busiest railway stations in Great Britain, busiest station in Bri ...
and Addington Village, Harrington Road or Elmers End. Partial tram services ran between East Croydon and , between New Addington and Addington Village, and between Beckenham Junction and Harrington Road. Full services were reinstated on 18 November.
It was found that the speed restriction sign for the bend at Sandilands was not visible to drivers until the tram had travelled past the point where braking would need to have been initiated to reach the required speed at the sign — drivers "were expected to know this from their knowledge of the route".[ At Sandilands, an additional speed restriction was imposed before the curve, and chevron signs were installed to give better warning of the curve.][ Chevron signs were also installed at three other locations on the Croydon Tramlink system.] Following recommendations made in the first interim report into the accident, tram systems in the United Kingdom introduced stepped speed reductions where there was a required reduction in speed of or more. This affected systems in Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...
, Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
, the West Midlands and Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
.[
In March 2017, it was reported that Tramtrack Croydon and TfL had admitted liability for the accident. Victims and survivors would not have to sue for compensation for losses caused by the accident.] In August 2017, TfL confirmed they would be altering Tramlink timetables to take account of reduced speed limits.
In November 2017, two days of strikes by tram drivers were announced following the installation of fatigue monitoring devices. The devices shine an infrared light into the driver's face and are capable of generating an alert and vibrating the driver's chair if eye movements indicate a lack of attention. Some drivers have raised concerns about health and safety issues, and have described the device as a "spy in the cab".
On 22 January 2018, the Office of Rail and Road
The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways.
ORR regulates Network Rail by setting its ...
(ORR) organised a safety summit in Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
to discuss the findings of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is a British government agency that independently investigates rail accidents in the United Kingdom and the Channel Tunnel in order to find a cause, not to lay blame. Created in 2005, it is required b ...
(RAIB) report on the investigation into the accident. In January 2019, it was announced that all trams on the system were to be fitted with a system which would automatically apply the brakes if the tram exceeded the speed limit. , tram 2551 was still in the custody of the RAIB in Farnborough and had not returned to service.
The decision that no prosecutions were to take place meant that an inquest could be held. A pre-inquest review was held at Croydon Town Hall
Croydon Town Hall is a council building in Katharine Street, Croydon which serves as the headquarters for Croydon London Borough Council. It is a Grade II listed building.
History
Croydon's first town hall, which was located on the west side o ...
on 25 September 2019. The driver of the tram did not attend, saying he was unwell. His decision was criticised by the barrister representing five of the victims. The full inquest was due to begin on 19 October 2020, but was delayed until 17 May 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. The inquest was held at the Fairfield Halls
Fairfield Halls is an arts, entertainment and conference centre in Croydon, London, England, which opened in 1962 and contains a theatre and gallery, and a large concert hall regularly used for BBC television, radio and orchestral recordings. F ...
, Croydon. A jury was sworn in on 17 May, and on 22 July returned a verdict of accidental death
An accidental death is an unnatural death that is caused by an accident, such as a slip and fall, traffic collision, or accidental poisoning. Accidental deaths are distinguished from death by natural causes, disease, and from intentional homici ...
. Relatives of the victims of the accident announced that they intend to call on Attorney General
In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
Michael Ellis to apply to the High Court for a fresh inquest. The mother of one of the victims called for a public inquiry into the accident.
Investigations
British Transport Police
The 42-year-old tram driver was arrested by the British Transport Police
British Transport Police (BTP; ) is a national special police force that polices the railway network of England, Wales and Scotland, which consists of over 10,000 miles of track and 3,000 stations and depots.
BTP also polices the London Under ...
on suspicion of manslaughter
Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th ce ...
on the day of the accident. After questioning, he was released on bail until May 2017.[ According to '']Metro
Metro may refer to:
Geography
* Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia
* A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center
Public transport
* Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...
'', one aspect of the police investigation was whether or not the tram driver fell asleep; and ''The Guardian'' reported that some passengers said the driver had blacked out at the controls. In November 2017, it was reported that a file was being prepared for the Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It is headed by the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The main responsibilities of the CPS are to provide legal adv ...
(CPS), who would decide whether or not a trial would take place.[ it was reported that the CPS were still awaiting the file from the British Transport Police, who were still gathering evidence. On 31 October 2019, British Transport Police and the CPS announced that neither the driver, operating company or TfL would face prosecution. The CPS stated that while there was evidence of negligence by the driver, it did not count as "gross" and so "manslaughter by gross negligence" could not apply. Prosecutors also stated that because the section of tramway where the crash happened was neither legally a railway nor a public place then various other potential offences would not apply.] However, a prosecution was subsequently started by the ORR.[
A former driver suggested to '']The Times
''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' that a blackout was a possibility, due to the erratic shift patterns that the drivers had to adhere to. He also said that the vending machine at the tram depot was stocked only with energy drink
An energy drink is a type of non-alcoholic psychoactive functional beverage containing stimulant compounds, usually caffeine (at a higher concentration than ordinary soda pop) and taurine, which is marketed as reducing tiredness and improving pe ...
s, and that "Nobody is ever fully awake; I was always in a bit of a daze and that is because the way the shifts work doesn't allow the drivers to get a regular sleep pattern." Following this, multiple sources reported on a video apparently showing a different driver struggling to stay awake at the controls. The driver concerned was suspended pending an investigation into the matter.
Office of Rail and Road
The ORR opened its own investigation into the accident, concentrating on whether or not safety rules were followed. They confirmed that British trams are not fitted with an overspeed protection system. The ORR was expected to make an announcement about its investigation early in 2018.[ On the third anniversary of the accident, the ORR ]tweeted
A tweet (officially known as a post since 2023) is a short status update on the social networking site Twitter (officially known as X since 2023) which can include images, videos, GIFs, straw polls, hashtags, mentions, and hyperlinks. Around ...
that its investigation was ongoing.
Rail Accident Investigation Branch
The RAIB also investigated the accident, with data from the tram's on-board event recorder being analysed. The RAIB stated that initial indications suggested that the tram was travelling at a significantly higher speed than permitted. ''Rail
Rail or rails may refer to:
Rail transport
*Rail transport and related matters
*Railway track or railway lines, the running surface of a railway
Arts and media Film
* ''Rails'' (film), a 1929 Italian film by Mario Camerini
* ''Rail'' (1967 fil ...
'' magazine reported that the tram's electro-magnetic track brakes had not been activated. Following the accident, ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' reported that on 31 October passengers had made allegations on Facebook
Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...
of a tram travelling round the curve at excessive speed. The ''Evening Standard
The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...
'' reported an earlier passenger complaint describing the tram as "tipping" on the curve.[ The driver of the tram involved in the incident of 31 October was not the one involved in the accident on 9 November.]
The interim report was released a week later on 16 November 2016. At the time of the accident, it was dark and it was raining heavily. There was no evidence of any track defects, or obstructions on the track, that could have contributed to the derailment. Initial investigation did not indicate any malfunction of the tram's braking system. Initial findings were that the tram was travelling at approximately at the time of the accident—far exceeding the speed restriction. The RAIB interim report noted that "a tram approaching the Sandilands Junction area from Lloyd Park at would need to brake at its full service rate of 1.3m/s² for approximately 180metres ( for ) before the speed restriction board in order to be travelling at when the board was reached." The On Tram Data Recorder (OTDR) indicated that some braking had occurred within this distance but only sufficient to reduce the tram's speed from .
A recommendation was made that a further speed limit should be introduced prior to the one for the curve at Sandilands Junction before the line reopened to traffic. The recommendation was accepted and three further speed restrictions were put in place before the line reopened. The report also found that a number of passengers with fatal or serious injuries had been ejected from the tram through broken bodyside and door windows. In November 2016, ''Rail'' magazine called for the RAIB to complete its investigation and release the final report "much more rapidly than has become the norm".
A second interim report was released on 20 February 2017. In April 2017, it was reported that there had been three cases of speeding on the section of line which included the accident site in the period November 2016 – April 2017. In one case, a tram was reported to be travelling at in a zone. Within the second interim report the RAIB noted that drivers of trams approaching the curve could be expected to sight the curve and the speed restriction sign from with full beam headlights and with dipped beam headlights. Although the report states that the tram's braking system was not capable of slowing the tram sufficiently between the point where the speed restriction sign became visible and the point at which the speed restriction is enforced, it also says, "There was no sign to indicate to drivers where they should begin to apply the brake for the Sandilands curve; they were expected to know this from their knowledge of the route."
In the light of the first interim report the ORR requested that all operators of light rail tramway systems apply a system of stepped speed restrictions where reductions in speed greater than are required by changes in the characteristics of the track.
The final report was published on 7 December 2017. Driver error was found to be the cause of the accident, with the most likely scenario being that the driver had a microsleep
A microsleep is a sudden temporary episode of sleep or drowsiness which may last for a few seconds where an individual fails to respond to some arbitrary sensory input and becomes unconscious.International Classification of Sleep Disorders, , pa ...
episode approaching the bend. Fifteen recommendations were made. Key findings of the RAIB investigation were that the tram's windows, which were made of toughened glass
Tempered or toughened glass is a type of safety glass processed by controlled thermal or chemical treatments to increase its strength compared with normal glass. Tempering puts the outer surfaces into compression and the interior into tension ...
, were not strong enough to contain passengers inside the tram. All the fatalities had been ejected through the right side windows. Laminated glass
Laminated glass is a type of safety glass consisting of two or more layers of glass with one or more thin polymer interlayers between them which prevent the glass from breaking into large sharp pieces. Breaking produces a characteristic "spider ...
would not have broken, improving the survivability of the accident. Regulations applying to trams were similar to those applying to buses. If railway regulations had applied, laminated glass would have been fitted. The tram's operators had not considered it possible for a tramcar to overturn. There had been insufficient reporting of previous incidents by drivers, who feared that they would be disciplined rather than such reports being seen as an opportunity to learn a safety lesson (a blame culture rather than a just culture). The system for dealing with complaints from passengers was not fit for purpose. The investigation also found that trams were not as safe as the ORR previously thought, having a higher accident rate than other rail transport and also buses and coaches.
An update to the final report was issued on 24 October 2018. The update included the addition of a Transport for London
Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom.
TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...
(TfL) audit of Tram Operations Limited's fatigue risk management system, a copy of a letter sent to all UK tram operators and some minor technical corrections. In response to Recommendation 1 of the final report, the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board (LRSSB) was established. The ORR has observer status on the LRSSB.
Transport for London
TfL commissioned SNC-Lavalin to carry out an investigation into the accident. The investigation report was published in January 2018. TfL stated that all recommendations from the RAIB final report would be implemented.[
]
Victoria Derbyshire programme
In April 2017, the BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
programme ''Victoria Derbyshire
Victoria Antoinette Derbyshire (born 2 October 1968) is a British journalist, newsreader and broadcaster. Her eponymous current affairs and debate programme was broadcast on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel from 2015 until March 2020. She has ...
'' reported that its own investigation into drivers falling asleep at the controls of trams on the Tramlink network revealed four such cases. Six drivers claimed that the dead-man's vigilance device
A dead man's switch is a switch that is designed to be activated or deactivated if the human operator becomes incapacitated, such as through death, loss of consciousness, or being bodily removed from control. Originally applied to switches on a ...
fitted to the trams was not fit for purpose. Tramlink stated that the devices were "fully functional".
New safety measures
During 2019, an automatic system to apply the tram brakes if the speed limit is exceeded at "high risk locations" on the Tramlink network was installed. On tramcars, the thickness of the window safety film was increased from , to prevent passengers being ejected during an accident, and emergency lighting, independent of the tram battery, was installed. In April 2019, the RAIB reported that the addition of the thicker film to Tramlink trams had been implemented. Tests had shown that containment provided by the film had been improved.[
]
Prosecution
On 24 March 2022, the Office of Rail and Road announced that it was to prosecute the driver of the tram, Tram Operations Limited (TOL) and Transport for London (TfL) over the accident.
The trial started on 10 June 2022 at Croydon Magistrates Court. TOL and TfL pleaded guilty to offences of "failure to ensure the health and safety of passengers on the Croydon Tramlink network, so far as reasonably practicable" under Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974
The Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 (c. 37) (HSWA 1974, HASWA or HASAWA) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that defines the fundamental structure and authority for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of work ...
.[ TOL were fined £4 million and TfL were fined £10 million. Each company was also ordered to pay £234,404 in costs and a £170 victim surcharge.]
The tram driver pleaded not guilty to a charge of "failure to take reasonable care of passengers", under section 7(a) of that act. The case was sent to the Crown Court for a pre-trial hearing and case management. In May 2023, his trial opened at the Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
.
On 19 June, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty in respect of the charges faced by the tram driver.
Memorials
There are two memorials to the crash – one by the site of the crash itself on Sandilands Road, and another in New Addington
New Addington is an area of South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located 5 miles south east of Croydon and is adjacent to the Greater London boundary with Surrey.
History
Until the 1930s, the area now known as New ...
.
See also
* List of tram accidents
*List of rail accidents (2010–2019)
This is a list of rail accidents which occurred between 2010 and 2019. For a list of terrorist incidents involving trains, see List of terrorist incidents involving railway systems.
2010
* 2 January – ''India'' – In Uttar Pradesh near E ...
*List of rail accidents in the United Kingdom
This lists significant accidents involving railway rolling stock, including crashes, fires and incidents of crew being overcome by locomotive emissions. Other railway-related incidents such as the King's Cross fire of 1987 or the 7 July 2005 Lon ...
*
References
External links
*
Final report of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croydon tram derailment, 2016
Tramlink
2016 disasters in the United Kingdom
2016 in London
2016 tram derailment
November 2016 in the United Kingdom
Railway accidents in 2016
Railway accidents and incidents in London
Tram accidents