Summary

At about 04:25 hrs on Tuesday 17 October 2017, a maintenance train that was clearing leaf debris from the track, hit a tree just north of Markinch station, Fife. The debris from the tree disabled the train’s braking system. The train came to a stop before running away backwards for a distance of about 4.7 miles (7.5 km). The train crew on board made an emergency call to the signaller before jumping off the train, suffering minor injuries.

The train eventually came to a stop at Thornton North junction after running backwards and forwards between two adjacent gradients a total of nine times.

The brakes were fully released when debris from the tree operated the release mechanisms on the brake system distributors underneath both of the vehicles in the train.

The driver was unable to reapply the brakes because the debris from the tree had also separated all three of the brake pipes between the two vehicles in the train.

Recommendations

The RAIB has made two recommendations to Network Rail. The first addresses the risk of a runaway being initiated by debris on the track causing multiple disruptions to the braking system on this type of train. The second recommendation addresses the possibility that similar risks might be present for other short formation trains that operate on its infrastructure.

Notes to editors

1. The sole purpose of RAIB investigations is to prevent future accidents and incidents and improve railway safety. RAIB does not establish blame, liability or carry out prosecutions.
2. RAIB operates, as far as possible, in an open and transparent manner. While our investigations are completely independent of the railway industry, we do maintain close liaison with railway companies and if we discover matters that may affect the safety of the railway, we make sure that information about them is circulated to the right people as soon as possible, and certainly long before publication of our final report.
3. For media enquiries, please call 01932 440015.

Newsdate: 11 January 2018

A new national housing agency – Homes England – has today (11 January 2018) been launched by Housing Secretary Sajid Javid as one of the key steps towards delivering the homes the country needs.

As the successor to the Homes and Communities Agency, Homes England will drive forward change, as set out in the government’s housing white paper.

By bringing together their existing planning expertise and new land buying powers, the new agency will play a major role in securing land in areas where people want to live, support smaller and more innovative house builders into the market and resource brownfield sites from across the country to deliver homes for families.

Homes England will play a major role in fixing the housing market by helping to deliver an average of 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s.

Visiting Alconbury in Cambridgeshire, a former airfield which will bring 5,000 new homes, the Housing Secretary toured the 1,420 acre site which is just one of the many locations across the country receiving government funding to build more homes.

Housing Secretary Sajid Javid said:

This government is determined to build the homes our country needs and help more people get on the housing ladder. Homes England will be at the heart of leading this effort.

The development at Alconbury is a prime example of how the agency has worked to deliver thousands of new homes, as well as improve roads and create space for local businesses.

The new agency will be key in replicating this approach right across the country and will help us build a Britain fit for the future.

Nick Walkley, Chief Executive of Homes England, said:

As Homes England, we will use our land, finance and expertise to expand the delivery of affordable new homes and connect ambitious partners to remove barriers to house building.

Sir Ed Lister, Chairman of Homes England, added:

We will take the lead in delivering better quality homes and great places that set the bar high for others. We will also stimulate demand for Modern Methods of Construction and ultimately disrupt the housing market.

The launch of Homes England is just one of the steps this government is taking to fix the broken housing market. Since 2010, government has delivered more than 1.1 million homes and Help to Buy has supported over 255,000 people to buy a property.

Around 310 local authorities have now published a brownfield register, revealing over 26,000 hectares of developable land on over 16,000 sites. More registers expected to be published over the next few weeks. By prioritising both the areas where people want to live and developers can build, Homes England will use the registers to progress brownfield development across the country.

The agency has already been supporting developments across the country including 10,000 new homes on a brownfield site northwest of Cambridge and a 3,200 new homes site in South Yorkshire.

Homes England will develop a new commercial approach to acquiring, preparing, managing and developing land in areas of high demand and strategic importance. By focusing on using both the land and money to support builders of all sizes to increase supply will continue to support accelerated construction on a selection of sites.

Meeting housing demand is also about supporting the SME sector and over £750 million of the £1 billion short term fund has been committed to SMEs, custom builders and developers using modern methods of construction which will result in over 25,500 homes being built. Homes England will support this initiative and SME builders to grow their businesses and build more homes.

The Homes and Communities Agency was established in 2008 as the government’s housing, land and regeneration agency, and the regulator of social housing providers in England.

The Chancellor announced that the Homes and Communities Agency will be launched as Homes England during the Autumn Budget in 2017.

Homes England is lending £45.07 million to Urban&Civic through the Home Building Fund to ramp up the delivery of 4,507 homes by funding enabling works and infrastructure. The loan will be repaid over 11 years as serviced land is sold to house builders.

Approximately 310 local authorities have published a brownfield register, which reveal over 26,000 hectares of developable land.

The £1 billion short term fund is part of the Home Building Fund which also consists of a £2 billion long term fund for infrastructure. A further £1.5 billion was announced in the Autumn Budget for the short term fund.

Government has previously announced that the Regulator of Social Housing will be separated from the Agency and established as a standalone organisation. Homes England will be a commercially-focused land and investment agency.

See further details about the new Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

A spokesperson for the Parole Board said:

“We can confirm that the Ministry of Justice has referred the case of Antoni Imiela for an parole review. The review is following the standard 6 month process for all indeterminate sentence prisoners and will be reviewed on the papers in the first instance. The review may be concluded on the papers or alternatively it may be directed to an oral hearing.”

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns will hit the ground running in 2018 when he hosts the next meeting of his EU Exit Expert Panel in Cardiff today (Thursday 11 January 2018).

The panel forms part of the UK Government’s nationwide engagement with those with key interests in our exit from the EU.

Mr Cairns will gather representatives from Welsh businesses, universities and the voluntary, farming, food and health sectors at Caspian Point to discuss their priorities for Brexit and to update them on negotiations and the progress of the Withdrawal Bill.

Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said.

As we move closer towards our exit from the European Union, the job of listening to, and understanding the needs of, those who live, work and do business in Wales becomes ever more important.

The UK Government’s overriding goal is to make sure that the voices of sectors from all parts of the UK are listened to as we navigate an exit that works for everyone.

That is why I am working with experts from across all sectors in Wales to examine the challenges posed by Brexit and to explore the great opportunities for growth in business and employment.

The EU (Withdrawal) Bill is a key piece of legislation in the national interest which will convert EU law to UK law on exit day, ensuring certainty and continuity as we leave the EU.

The Secretary of State for Wales established the Expert Panel to work with him to deliver a smooth and orderly exit from the EU in Wales. The fifth meeting today builds on the constructive conversations they have already had on how powers returning from the EU should be exercised after exit day.

Highways England today renewed its focus on design with the launch of a set of design principles which will inform future road schemes – to ensure its roads better serve the people who use them and the environments through which they pass.

The company, responsible for delivering the Government’s £15bn Road Investment Strategy, says that as well as connecting people and places, there should be renewed focus on improvements which are long lasting, sensitive to their surroundings, and enhance the quality of life.

The design principles released today put people at the heart of its work.

Responsible for England’s motorways and main A roads, Highways England also announced the launch of a new body, comprised of experts across the industry, to provide support to designers on major projects. Early reviews include the Lower Thames Crossing and the A303 Stonehenge improvements.

Highways England’s Chief Highways Engineer Mike Wilson said:

We are delivering the biggest level of investment in England’s strategic road network for a generation.

We need to make sure that Highways England and the industry think in the right way when it comes to good design. The ten principles of good road design are to help us achieve that and will underpin our major improvements going forward.

We want roads that not only connect the country and communities, but which achieve a higher quality of life; that are designed in a way that is sensitive to the surroundings; provide greater economic vitality and use resources in a more efficient and innovative way.

The ten principles of good road design were published today following the recommendations of the Highways England Strategic Design Panel. They are that good road design:

• makes roads safe and useful
• is inclusive
• makes roads understandable
• fits in context
• is restrained
• is environmentally sustainable
• is thorough
• is innovative
• is collaborative
• is long-lasting

The panel was set up to support the development of a culture where good design is at the heart of everything within Highways England and the wider road sector. This coincides with Highways England delivering the biggest programme of Government investment in a generation. The panel’s focus is on strategic input rather than scheme specific details, targeting where its expertise, insight and guidance will have most positive impact and wider benefit such as standards, procurement and evaluation.

At the start of the Year of Engineering, acknowledging that good engineering changes people’s lives, Highways England has set out a design vision that:

We aim to put people at the heart of our work by designing an inclusive, resilient and sustainable road network; appreciated for its usefulness but also its elegance, reflecting in its design the beauty of the natural, built and historic environment through which it passes, and enhancing it where possible.

The new principles and vision have been launched at the start of the Year of Engineering, a government campaign to get many thousands more young people to consider engineering as a career. Highways England will work with suppliers to bring young people face to face with their work, offering them the opportunity to see first-hand the range of jobs on offer and the difference infrastructure projects make to people’s lives.

Examples of previous good design include the use of traditional dry stone to reinforce the A590’s connection to the Cumbrian landscape. Other examples of good design include the A3 Hindhead tunnel bypass and the decommissioning of the old road and the inclusion of a ‘green bridge’ on the A556 in Cheshire.

The green bridge over the A556 in Cheshire is seamlessly integrated with the context and allows for wildlife to cross

Earlier today Highways England released images of a new green bridge on the A556 Knutsford to Bowdon scheme opened last year. The A556 project’s green measures earned it a prestigious Green Apple Award for Environmental Best Practice last year.

As recommended by the Strategic Design Panel, Highways England recently established an independent design review panel. This new design review panel provides expert and independent design advice to the Strategic Design Panel, Highways England and their design teams to ensure that the design vision and principles of good road design are applied to individual schemes.

The ten new principles of good road design and vision will underpin the updated Design Manual for Roads and Bridges. The Design Manual for Roads and Bridges was first published in 1992 and is the standard for the design, maintenance and operation of the strategic road network and is widely used for other roads in the UK and across the globe. The new manual will be rolled out in phases and is expected to be complete by March 2020.

General enquiries

Members of the public should contact the Highways England customer contact centre on 0300 123 5000.

Media enquiries

Journalists should contact the Highways England press office on 0844 693 1448 and use the menu to speak to the most appropriate press officer.