Train passenger's tree branch death 'foreseeable'

The death of a woman who leaned out the window of a moving train and was hit by a tree branch was "foreseeable", an inquest has been told.

Bethan Roper, 28, suffered fatal head injuries after being hit by the branch at Twerton, between Bath and Bristol.

Julian Forbes-Laird, an arboricultural consultant, said more regular inspections of trees along the line may have prevented the accident.

The train was travelling at around 75mph when it happened in 2018.

Miss Roper, from Penarth, Glamorgan, had been Christmas shopping in Bath.

Network Rail commissioned Mr Forbes-Laird to compile a report into the history of the tree, Avon Coroner's Court heard.

He found it had been colonised by wood decay fungi and the branch which killed Miss Roper had fallen towards the Great Western Railway service line by February 2017, and was resting on a chain link fence.

Mr Forbes-Laird told the inquest that in his opinion the accident, on 1 December 2018, was "foreseeable" because other stems from the tree had needed to be cut because of disease.

His report stated that had an expert inspected the tree at any time since 2014, they would have identified its poor condition.

The tree had undergone inspections by Network Rail in 2009 and 2012.

"Network Rail standard is to have a five-year cycle of specialist inspection," Mr Forbes-Laird said.

"Unfortunately, that cycle was not carried out and that tree was not professionally inspected for really quite a number of years and longer than the standard."

Mr Forbes-Laird said the only way the decay would have been identified was if the stump had been inspected.

"I am very concerned this derogation leaves gaps in the tree management system which could potentially give rise to far greater cost of life than the single person who lost their life in this case," he added.

The inquest continues.

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