A UK train company has been fined £1 million after failing to implement safety measures that could have saved the life of a 28-year-old woman on one of their services. Bethan Roper, 28, died after sustaining a fatal head injury from an overhanging tree branch while leaning out of a window on a Great Western Railway (GWR) journey through Bath in 2018. The railway safety watchdog found that the incident, which happened when she poked her head out of a droplight window while the train was travelling at 75mph, was a “preventable tragedy”.
GWR was fined £1 million and ordered to pay costs of more than £78,000 after pleading guilty to breaches of health and safety law and railway safety regulations on Friday. The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said the firm had been aware of “a number of previous incidents” linked to droplight windows, which enable passengers to use the handle on the outside when disembarking, but failed to introduce recommended safety measures.
“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,” the regulator said.
“However, ORR later found the assessment to be neither suitable nor sufficient and wrote to GWR to highlight its shortcomings. 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 incident in 2018.
“That assessment identified the hazard as one of the most significant safety risks.”
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) issued safety recommendations about droplight windows after a passenger died in similar circumstances near Balham, south London, in 2016.
Further guidance following Ms Roper’s death has seen all stock with droplight windows withdrawn from service or fitted with engineering controls to prevent the windows being opened while trains are moving.
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.”