Network Rail responds to sentencing at Swansea Crown Court

“We know that the tragic deaths of our colleagues, Gareth Delbridge and Michael ‘Spike’ Lewis, should never have happened on our railway and that has been reflected by today’s judgment.

 “Over the last five years I have met regularly with Gareth and Spike’s families and our thoughts remain with them, and all those friends and colleagues who have been impacted by their deaths.

 “Since this tragedy, we have continued to transform the safety of our workforce through the development of new technology and planning tools, which have almost entirely eliminated the need to work on the railway when trains are running.

 “Today’s judgment reinforces why safety must always be our first consideration, and we will continue to do all we can to make our railways the safest they can be.”

Background:

• Safety is Network Rail’s first consideration and significant investment has been made in making the railway the safest it can be
• When the tragic events happened at Margam, we had already committed £70 million of investment to track worker safety initiatives
• We then significantly accelerated this work, and established a track worker safety taskforce, bringing all existing initiatives together and introducing a new and comprehensive 3-year programme to fundamentally overhaul working practices across the railway to improve track worker safety
• This programme, which was focused on removing unassisted lookout working, included a complete review of thousands of maintenance tasks, development of new technology and working systems, such as the creation of an easy-to-navigate system to aid planning and delivery of work on or near the line, as well as enhanced training and safer access for track workers
• We have invested a total of more than £300 million to deliver an unprecedented level of reform to working practices, which has almost entirely eliminated unassisted lookout working from our railway, significantly reducing the number of near misses for track workers
• The most recent independent international data shows the UK has the safest railway in the world.During the last year we have achieved the railway’s lowest ever workforce accident rate
• But the tragedies that occurred at Margam serve as a stark reminder to us all that safety must always be our first consideration, and we are continually looking for ways to make the railway the safest it can be.