Tired Chiltern Railways train driver narrowly avoided head-on crash

A fatigued train driver with a history of safety blunders passed a stop signal and almost had a head-on crash with another train, investigators found.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said the near-miss happened on a Chiltern Railways service at Amersham, Buckinghamshire, on 21 June 2020.

The train was travelling south to London Marylebone when it passed a red signal at about 60mph (97km/h).

Chiltern Railways said its staff and passengers' safety was its priority.

Investigators said the train was automatically halted after it went through the stop signal.

But as the driver did not recall passing it, he thought the activation of the safety system was "spurious" and restarted the train without the necessary permission.

As a result he drove towards a northbound London Underground train at Chalfont and Latimer station, shared by Chiltern Railways and underground services.

He finally stopped about 75ft (23m) ahead of the Metropolitan line train, which was stationary, the RAIB said.

Investigators said the driver, who was not named, was probably fatigued.

He told them he "consistently suffered from poor quality sleep" for many years.

Following the incident, he was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnoea, which causes breathing to stop and start during sleeping, a condition that was not picked up in the driver's regular medical assessments.

The RAIB said the man qualified as a driver in 2002 and was involved in 15 safety-related incidents before the Amersham near-miss.

These included failing to stop at stations, overrunning stations and opening the doors on the wrong side.

He was restricted to driving only empty trains to and from a depot between 2015 and 2018, but was then cleared to return to normal duties.

The RAIB made a series of safety recommendations, including the railways firm should improve its management of drivers, and review the risks associated with resetting train protection equipment on London Underground infrastructure.

Chiltern Railways said it had taken on board the findings of the RAIB's report by adjusting its "processes and procedures", and expanding its driver management team with several new roles and appointments.

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