Catalogue description Health and Safety Executive: Southall Rail Accident Inquiry and the Joint Inquiry into Train Protection Systems

The accident at Southall occurred on 19 September 1997 when a high speed train travelling from Swansea to Paddington collided with an empty freight train; seven people were killed and a 147 people taken to hospital. Professor J F Uff was appointed to chair the public inquiry into the circumstances of the accident by the Health and Safety Commission with the consent of the Secretary of State for Environment, Transport and the Regions. Following a preliminary meeting on 19 December 1997, the inquiry was formally opened on 24 February 1998 and then adjourned pending legal proceedings against the Great Western Train Company and the driver of the high speed train. In July 1999 the charge of manslaughter against both defendants was dropped but Great Western Trains did plead guilty to an offence under the Heath and Safety at Work Act 1974. The main hearing opened on 20 September 1999 and the inquiry closed on 20 December 1999. The report was published on 24 February 2000 with 93 recommendations to improve rail safety.

Following the rail accident at Ladbroke Grove on 5 October 1999, another, separate inquiry (the"Joint Inquiry") was set up to inquire into factors common to the crashes at both Southall and Ladbroke Grove, including train protection systems and signals passed at danger. The Joint Inquiry was chaired jointly by Professor Uff and Lord Cullen (who chaired the inquiry into the crash at Ladbroke Grove) and it sat between 18 September 2000 and 27 October 2000.