TfL fined £10m for health and safety failures over Croydon tram crash that killed seven people

27 July 2023, 11:29 | Updated: 27 July 2023, 12:06

Transport for London has been fined £10m for health and safety failures over the Croydon tram crash, which killed seven people.

A total of 21 people were also badly injured in the disaster in November 2016, where a tram fell onto its side at a bend as it went three times the 20kph speed limit.

The driver, Alfred Dorris, was cleared of failing to take reasonable care at his work last month.

During a sentencing at the Old Bailey, Tram Operations Limited was also fined £4m.

The judge, Mr Justice Fraser, said: "This was undoubtedly an accident waiting to happen, quite literally."

Warnings about a risk of drivers getting disorientated at the Sandiland tunnel, near the bend, were not heeded.

A near miss happened days before the tragedy but a report into it was "ignored", while there was a sense of complacency about poor lighting and a lack of visual cues in the tunnel.

Dorris, 49, of Beckenham in south-east London, had blamed poor lighting and the signs on the approach to Sandilands.

Jonathan Ashley-Norman, prosecuting, said there had been "missed opportunities" to fix problems there and tram drivers had been let down by TOL and TfL. The primary problem was that they didn't carry out a suitable risk assessment over a potential high-speed derailment, he said.

There was an "over-reliance on fallible humans".

The companies said they were only culpable on a "medium" level, but they accepted the level of harm was high.

They insisted the derailment was not inevitable.

The passengers who died were Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Seary, 57, Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, Robert Huxley, 63, and Philip Logan, 52, all from New Addington, and Donald Collett, 62, and Mark Smith, 35, both from Croydon.

Some of their families were in court and responded to the sentencing.Mr Smith’s mother Jean Smith said no amount of money or justice would bring her son back but getting accountability may “bring some sense of peace”.

She said: “We have to live with the consequences of other people’s actions for the rest of our lives. I’m living a life sentence. It should never have happened.”

Mr Collett’s daughter Tracy Angelo said: “We all remain completely devastated and individually we will never be the same again.”

Mr Huxley’s son Adam said he had “lost all trust” in the tram operators and felt “insecurity, anxiety, vulnerability and heartbreak” whenever he went past the tram network.

He said: “Killed whilst travelling to work and due to retire soon – Robert and anybody else did not deserve this.”

Andy Lord, London’s Transport Commissioner, said: “I apologise on behalf of everyone at Transport for London, both past and present, for this tragedy and for the pain, distress and suffering that all those affected have endured and continue to endure.

“Every passenger on the tram that morning entrusted their safety to us but we failed them and for that I am truly sorry. We remain committed to providing support to anyone who needs it.

“We accepted responsibility promptly and we did everything possible to ensure the right support was quickly in place to help all those affected. Since 2016, we have also delivered an extensive programme of major industry-leading safety improvements to the tram network.

“We continually review our network and work with the wider tram industry to ensure we are running the safest possible service for our customers and to ensure that such a tragedy can never happen again.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: "The Sandilands incident was a tragedy that will never be forgotten, and that must never be allowed to happen again.

"My thoughts are with all those who were on the tram that day, and particularly with the families and friends of the seven people who tragically lost their lives.

"I want everyone, staff and passengers, to be safe on public transport, and I will continue to work with TfL on the continual improvement of the transport network to make it as safe as possible."