Video: Passengers concerned by ‘scary’ tram derailment
The full cause of an accident which derailed a tram in Nottingham’s Old Market Square may never be made public.
The rear carriages of a service came away from the rails last Thursday afternoon, stopping trams travelling through the square for several hours.
No passengers were on board at the time and and no-one was injured, but Government body the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has announced it will not be formally examining the incident.
The RAIB independently investigates tram and railway accidents to improve safety, and normally makes its conclusions public.
And while tram operator Nottingham Express Transit has begun an internal investigation, a spokesman was not able to say if its conclusion would ever be made public.
Services were affected when the tram’s rear carriages came free, close to Debenhams on the square, as it carried out a low speed manoeuvre across points to change lines and travel back in the opposite direction.
Witnesses described how the carriages were dragged off the line for around 40 metres before hitting the Old Market Square tram stop. Engineers were later able to re-position the tram onto the tracks.
Marks appear show route taken by derailed tram in #Nottingham‘s Old Market Square as police tape off accident scene.https://t.co/ZaEHBvU864 pic.twitter.com/hEVnA57P8f
— Notts TV (@Notts_TV) 25 May 2017
An NET spokesman said: “An internal investigation has started and is ongoing, but we wouldn’t want to speculate further until it has been completed.
“However the incident occurred during a low speed turnback manoeuvre, something that is not conducted during normal day-to-day operations when customers are on board.
“Low speed derailments of this nature are very infrequent events but not unheard of, and similar incidents are occasionally reported on all tram networks.
“There is some minor damage to the edge of the tram stop, which will be repaired, and the tram itself is undergoing a thorough inspection by our engineers.”
When asked by Notts TV how long the internal investigation may take, if there were any early indications to the cause, if the driver was still working, and if any of the investigation would be made public, the spokesman said they had “nothing to add” to the statement.
An RAIB spokesman said: “The accident was reported to us. Based on the information available, we have decided not to investigate on this occasion.”
Shortly after the accident, NET said: “One of our trams has been stopped in Old Market Square after wheels on its rear bogie disengaged from a section of track whilst it was performing a low speed turnback manoeuvre. No passengers were on board at the time.”
