The train driver was sending and receiving messages on his phone during the course of his journey, while driving a locomotive owned and operated by DB Cargo (UK) Limited on Monday, 23 March 2020.
After entering the siding at Bromsgrove station, he lost concentration due to reading a picture message on his mobile phone and then failed to control the speed of his locomotive, which struck the buffer stops, derailing and partially obstructing the adjacent main line. A passing CrossCountry passenger train then struck the train driver's locomotive - no-one was injured, but there was extensive damage to both the locomotive and the passenger train.
The prosecution asserted that the defendant's failure to control his train due to distraction caused by using his mobile phone while at the controls of his locomotive led to a serious incident. It added that under slightly different circumstances the incident may have had a “catastrophic outcome”.
In delivering the sentence, Judge Cartwright said: “Luckily there were only six people on board; the guard, driver and four passengers. But for the lockdown, the train might otherwise have been carrying a good number of others. The driver was immediately covered in glass, his driver's door torn open. If the locomotive had derailed a little further over, this would have been a head-on collision and he would have been killed.”
Ian Prosser, Chief Inspector of Railways, said:
Notes to Editors
- The Office of Rail and Road is the economic and safety regulator of Britain's railway - including light rail, trams and heritage. As the health and safety regulator for the rail industry, we deliver advice and enforcement to help ensure the safety of both passengers and workers.
- A train driver was sentenced to eight months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, for breaching section 7(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The train driver must also undertake 120 hours of unpaid work within the next 12 months and pay £600 compensation to the CrossCountry train driver, costs of £2,400, plus a victim surcharge of £150.
*This article was updated to redact the name of the driver in accordance with timelines on spent convictions and data protection laws.