Transport for London and Tram Operations Limited, owned by FirstGroup, have pleaded guilty to health and safety failures over the Croydon tram accident in 2016, the Railways and Roads Office said.
Seven passengers were killed and 51 were injured when a tram derailed in south London on 9 November 2016. The ORR alleges that TfL and TOL breached Article 3 (1) of the Safety and Security Act. health at work in 1974, while the driver of the tram, Alfred Dorris, faces a complaint of non-compliance with Article 7 (a) of the legislation.
In a hearing at Croydon Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Dorris, 48, of Beckenham, south-east London, pleaded not guilty to a charge of failing to take reasonable care of passengers as an employee.
The ORR said TfL and TOL had pleaded guilty to their respective charges.
ORR Chief Inspector of Railways Ian Prosser said: “Today we can confirm that Transport for London and Tram Operations Limited have pleaded guilty. Driver Alfred Dorris has pleaded not guilty.
“We conducted an extensive, detailed and thorough investigation and made the decision to prosecute all three parties for what we believe are serious health and safety issues related to the Croydon tram derailment on November 9, 2016, which “Killing seven passengers with many more seriously injured. All our thoughts are with these people. The matter has now been sent to the Crown Court for a pre-trial hearing to handle the case and list future hearings.”
District Judge Nigel Dean released Dorris on unconditional bail and then appeared in Croydon Crown Court on July 8.
A number of bereaved relatives appeared in court for the brief hearing. The victims of the accident were Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Seary, 57, Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, Robert Huxley, 63, and Philip Logan, 52, all of New Addington, and Donald Collett, of 62, and Mark Smith, 35, both. of Croydon.
An investigation last year found that the tram crashed and derailed in the dark and heavy rain near the Sandilands stop after approaching a 45 mph (73 km) curve. / h). The speed limit for this stretch of track was 12 mph (20 km / h).
Services at Croydon Tramlink are operated by TfL and operated by TOL. Both organizations will be sentenced to the Croydon Crown Court on a date to be set for failing to ensure the health and safety of passengers, to the extent reasonably practicable.
The maximum penalty for convictions for crimes against health and safety is an unlimited fine and up to two years in prison for individuals.