Heritage railway operator, Wensleydale Railway, has today been fined £4,000 and ordered to pay costs of £4,000 following a prosecution brought by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) for breaches of health and safety law which led to a collision between a train and a car at a level crossing near Newton-le-Willows in North Yorkshire.
On 1 August 2011, a steam train carrying 58 passengers collided with a car at Fox Park No.1 crossing, which connects a private farm access road with a public road across the rail line operated by Wensleydale Railway.
The car was extensively damaged in the collision, and the train sustained minor damage.
Neither the driver of the car nor any passengers on board the train suffered any injuries.Today’s sentencing at Northallerton Magistrates’ Court follows an extensive investigation by ORR into the incident which found that users of the crossing had insufficient visibility of oncoming trains, placing them in unnecessary danger.
This was caused by Wensleydale Railway not having in place adequate procedures to manage vegetation alongside the rail line. Evidence showed that prior to the collision vegetation at the crossing had not been cut back since October 2010.
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