Statement - ORR issues improvement notice to West Coast Rail Company

Ian Prosser, Director of railway safety, ORR said:

Safety on the railways is ORR's absolute priority, and we will not allow services to run where we see safety risks. Following the serious incident where a West Coast Railway Company (WCRC) train passed a signal warning at danger near Wootton Bassett Junction on 7 March 2015, ORR inspectors have carried out an extensive investigation into the standards of safety on their passenger services.

The regulator's initial investigation found shortfalls in the WCRC's safety management system and in response the company has introduced enhanced safety procedures and appropriate staff competence regimes. ORR inspectors have been on site examining the new safety arrangements and inspecting WCRC passenger services to ensure that the necessary changes are being fully implemented by the company.

ORR has issued an Improvement Notice to ensure WCRC delivers further improvements. This will ensure workers are provided with suitable training and effective systems to control safety risks and have clearly defined performance indicators in place. ORR will closely monitor the company and will not hesitate to step in if any non-compliance with the Improvement Notice is found.

Our decision letter to West Coast Railway Company can be read in full here:
https://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/17973/wcrc-safety-certificate-letter-190515.pdf

The Improvement Notice can be read in full here:
https://orr.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/17975/wcrc-improvement-notice-may-2015.pdf