Safety notice issued after Great Central Railway passenger injured

Heritage railways have been issued with safety advice after a passenger suffered "a serious injury" leaving a train in Leicestershire in January.

The passenger lost their footing while alighting at Loughborough Central station on the Great Central Railway.

An investigation by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) found plans "may not be in place to mitigate the risks" involved with some vehicles.

Great Central Railway said it was reviewing platform arrangements.

The RAIB said the passenger was leaving the train at about 11:50 GMT on 14 January, with the train in question "formed of historic slam door rolling stock" without central locking and not locked by a crew member.

As the train stopped, the carriage in which the passenger was travelling "stopped in a position which meant that [the] door was adjacent to the ramped part of the platform, which is not intended for public use".

The passenger lost their footing when stepping from the carriage to the ramp.

Following an investigation, the RAIB said heritage railway operators should "review the risks associated with the use of train formations which may not be fully platformed or which are of a length close to that of the platforms being called at".

Malcolm Holmes, general manager at Great Central Railway, said both the RAIB and their own investigations were ongoing but several changes had already been put in place.

"We've got a standard length of train that we'll use with plenty of room to ensure it stops in the right place," he said.

"That doesn't mean we can't run longer trains but it means that we'll put special arrangements in for those... that won't ordinarily fit into our platforms.

"Getting on and off old trains is unfamiliar to the general public today... so we're just tightening up arrangements for those and making sure that we're keeping all of our people safe."

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