Network Rail admits guilt over death of worker hit by a train

Network Rail is facing a hefty fine after admitting a health and safety breach over the death of a worker who was hit by a fast-moving train .

Tyler Byrne, 30, was working on the track between Surbiton and Weybridge when he was struck by a South Western Railway service travelling at 76mph.

Mr Byrne died at the scene at Surbiton station on February 9, 2021, with a subsequent investigation finding he had been “distracted” and Network Rail had failed to learn lessons from previous, similar deaths.

At Wimbledon magistrates court earlier this month, Network Rail Infrastructure Limited pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The company admitted failing to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees by providing a safe system of work for employees “working on or near the line, including Mr Tyler Byrne”.

Network Rail said the death “should never have happened”, and added that it has overhauled its safety regimes in the wake of Mr Byrne’s death.

Sentencing has been adjourned to a later date at Kingston crown court, with Network Rail expected to face a substantial fine.

Mr Byrne, from Aldershot, Hampshire, had “lost awareness of his position” while either carrying out an inspection or training his assistant about inspections, a previous Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) investigation found.

Employed by Network Rail since 2015, Mr Byrne was the certified Controller of Site Safety (COSS) on the day of the accident and was in charge of supervising a team on the line.

The RAIB investigation highlighted that two workers, Gareth Delbridge, 64, and Michael Lewis, 58, had been struck and killed by a Paddington-bound train in 2019 in Wales.

Network Rail was criticised for a “long-term failure to improve the safety of people working on the railway”.

“At Surbiton, the accident happened probably because a patroller, who was carrying out inspections and was also responsible for the group's safe system of work, had become distracted and lost awareness of his position relative to the line the train approached on”, read the report.

”The patrol was being undertaken with protection provided by unassisted lookouts.

“Although this was the usual practice for these inspections, working with unassisted lookouts is the least safe type of system allowed for when working on track and this had not been challenged in the years leading up to the accident.”

The RAIB set out how the train driver sounded a warning horn when approaching Mr Byrne, but it was not known if anyone on the track had heard it.

Network Rail has been prosecuted by the Office of Rail and Road.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Network Rail said: “The tragic death of our colleague Tyler Byrne should never have happened on our railway and our thoughts continue to be with Tyler's family, friends and loved ones.

“Since 2021 we have taken significant steps to improve safety through our Track Worker Safety programme. We've made a fundamental change to keep colleagues away from trains. We have drastically reduced working with a lookout warning by better planning, including when and how we are able to gain access to our railway.

“We have done this safely by carrying out maintenance work at different times, using alternative technology and we continue to examine our planned work to remove unnecessary activity where it is safe to do so.”

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