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Image of staff beside the tracks, taken from the train’s forward-facing CCTV Railway Accident Investigation Unit
Near miss
Irish rail workers avoided being hit by train by 'four to five seconds' in near-miss incident
Investigators said the driver didn’t have enough sighting distance to allow the staff members to get out of the way with an adequate margin before the train arrived.
IRISH RAIL WORKERS avoided being hit by a train by “four to five seconds”, a new report says.
The “near-miss” incident happened on 13 July between Ballyhaunis and Castlerea, when works were ongoing, but trains were running normally.
A still from CCTV footage taken at the time shows how narrow the two workers’ escape was.
A report by the Railway Accident Investigation Unit said at 2.05pm, the passenger service from Westport to Dublin Heuston approached the two members of staff, near the 118.5 milepost between Ballyhaunis and Castlerea. It was travelling at 108 km/h.
On seeing the staff members, the train driver sounded the horn.
The staff members then moved, reaching a safe point about “four to five seconds before the train passed”.
The driver of the train applied the emergency brake, and the train came to a stop.
No one was injured.
The Railway Accident Investigation Unit said the train driver’s available sighting distance “was insufficient to allow the two staff members to reach a position of safety with an adequate margin before the train arrived”.
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