Operating Department News - April 2010
The 10.35 from Haven Street
Report by IWSR Operating Manager Dr Alan Doe
It was an ordinary morning at Haven Street, cold and sunny. The 10.35 left more or less on time with over 30 passengers for Smallbrook. At 10.40 the signalman received a call from Guard Miller informing him that the train had crashed into a tree that had come down across the line near Bridge 8. The loco crew were miraculously uninjured but there were major injuries to at least four passengers on the train as they had been flung forward. The Guard had called the emergency services. At Haven Street the ‘Emergency Incident Plan’ swung into operation. Duty Officer Silsbury called in an experienced ‘Rail Incident Officer’ to attend the scene and co-ordinate the rescue with the emergency services. All at the station had key roles to play in the incident.
At 10.55 the first of the emergency services arrived at Haven Street and were directed to the accident scene. The Police, Ambulance, Fire Service and Coastguard had all been mobilised. The Police also sent their spotter plane to asses the situation. The IW Council and RAIB were also involved. The on-scene Bronze Commanders began to sort out the chaos. The severely injured were in four separate compartments and needed swift evacuation to hospital. This would not be an easy task as the train had come to stand on a steep embankment with very little ballast shoulder on which to work and the compartments were at least five feet above rail level.
Meanwhile the Guard and Conductor had been assessing the injuries and had informed the passengers that help was on the way. The train crew were looking after the engine. The signalman had stopped all other train movements and the crashed train had been protected as required by the Rule Book. However, not all was well as two passengers were seen leaving the train and walking away from the scene, one towards Ashey, the other towards Haven Street. They were eventually apprehended, for their own safety, and handed over to the Police at the inner Police cordon.
Coastguard and the Fire Technical Rescue vehicles could get close to the site in the field below the embankment but larger Fires Service vehicles could only get as far as the barn had to lay out over 200m of hose to get water to the scene. Once the emergency services gained access to the crash site the processes of de-training passengers and extracting the injured began. Ladders were used to de-train passengers and the Coastguard team erected guide ropes to help survivors down the steep embankment. It took over two hours or dedicated work to get the seriously injured away to ambulances and the 30 other passengers, many of whom were very distressed, safely away to Haven Street station.
At the station a ‘Survivor Reception Centre’ had been set up and telephones were manned to deal with enquiries. The platform staff had been detailed by the foreman to escort the uninjured passengers along the track to the safety of the station. In he Refreshment Room staff were providing sustenance for those who had been rescued.
The Duty Officer had joined the other Silver Commanders in the Police Command Vehicle in the car park where all the strategic decisions were being made. Our General Manager had prepared a statement for the Press who were converging on the station. Our Press Officer was on his way. The RAIB had been informed by telephone and due to the seriousness of the incident were deploying an investigation team to the Island. Their instructions were that the scene of the incident had to be preserved.
So ended our Emergency Incident Exercise on Tuesday 9 March which followed-on from the Table Top exercise that took place at Haven Street in 2007. This was a major live exercise and was the first time in over 20 years that all the emergency services had tackled combined training. During the morning we had over 100 staff, volunteers and emergency personnel involved. Everyone found the exercise incredibly useful. Lessons were learnt and documented procedures updated. All of our railway staff acted in a very professional and competent manner and were a credit to our organisation. Our thanks go to everyone who was involved with a special thanks to the emergency services who allocated considerable resources to the morning. Let us hope that such an incident never occurs but if it does we may be that little better prepared.