LONDON — After several fatal crashes in recent years, the government on Tuesday announced plans for an independent body to investigate rail accidents, according to a wire service.
Until now, train disasters have been investigated by the railway inspectorate of the government’s Health and Safety Executive, a safety watchdog body.
Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said the new body would “set up for the first time an independent railway investigator whose sole focus is to establish the causes of accidents and to learn lessons.”
He said detailed proposals for the new body will be published later this month.
Sixty people have died in rail crashes in recent years and the government has come under pressure to improve rail safety.
Later this week, the Health and Safety Executive is due to publish a second interim report on the train crash at Potters Bar north of London on May 10 that killed seven people and injured more than 70.
Investigators have been trying to determine what caused several nuts on the switching mechanism to come loose, allowing it to move as the train passed over it. Rail experts say poor maintenance is the most likely cause.