Lack of farmworker briefing caused serious rail cross crash
Date of alert:
Wednesday, 19 October 2022
Crime Ref:
Force:
Northamptonshire Police
A tractor driver did not have permission to pass over a level crossing when an oncoming train crashed into a bale chaser he was towing, a report has said.
An investigation by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (Raib) into the incident at the Kisby level crossing in Cambridgeshire, on 19 August 2021, has led to a number of safety recommendations.
Farmer organisations have been asked to remind their members to follow correct procedures at user-worked crossings.
According to the report, published on Monday (17 October), the incident happened when bales were being carted between neighbouring farms.
One of the farmers owned and managed the fields on both sides of the level crossing and, as such, he was the authorised user.
The tractor driver involved in the accident was employed by a neighbouring farmer who had purchased straw which had been baled on that neighbour’s land.
The Raib says the accident was a consequence of the tractor driver not being briefed on how to use the crossing and his belief that he could cross safely by looking for approaching trains.
