Rail firm fined £1m over death of woman who stuck her head out train window

A rail firm has been fined £1million and ordered to pay more than £78,000 in costs after pleading guilty to breaches of health and safety law after a woman was killed by a tree branch while she stuck her head out of an open window.

On December 1, 2018 Bethan Roper, 28, was on her way back from a Christmas shopping trip with friends when tragedy struck. She poked her head out of the window on aGreat Western Railway (GWR) train travelling at 75mph near Twerton, Bath, when she hit her head on an overhanging tree branch.

The London Paddington to Exeter service was using carriages fitted with droplight windows which enable passengers to use the handle on the outside when they needed to leave the train at the platform.

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The rail safety watchdog's chief inspector said the death was 'a preventable tragedy' and fined GWR £1m as well as £78,000 in costs after prosecution by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). The ORR is the independent economic and safety regulator for Britain’s railways, and monitor of performance and efficiency for England’s strategic road network.

In 2016, a passenger died in a similar incident near Balham, south London. Following that accident, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) issued safety recommendations in May 2017.

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. That assessment identified the hazard as one of the most significant passenger safety risks.

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 accident in 2018.

Following Ms Roper’s death, further safety recommendations were issued across the rail industry, to prevent passengers from leaning out of droplight windows.

As a result of these measures, all rolling stock operated by train companies that had droplight windows has since either been withdrawn from service or fitted with engineering controls to prevent windows being opened while trains are moving.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.”

You can read the report findings in full here.