A passenger train operated by Northern Trains Ltd departed from Styal station, Manchester, with five bodyside doors open.
The incident which occurred in May 2023has been published by the Rail Accident Investigation Board who said that immediately before the incident, the train had experienced technical difficulties which meant that the driver was unable to release the brakes and take power.
As a result of this, Northern control instructed the driver to isolate safety systems relating to the doors to allow the train to move. The safety isolations did not resolve the issue; however, after further checks, the train became able to move.
The train travelled for approximately 10 seconds with five doors open. Once the train reached 3.1 mph a safety system caused the open doors to close automatically.
No one was hurt in the incident, although people were moving towards the train and a passenger was standing in an open doorway when the train started to move.
The incident occurred because the engineering safeguards on the train to prevent the train from departing with the doors open had been bypassed to try and rectify a fault.
The train departed without the driver receiving an indication that the dispatch process was complete and without confirmation that the doors were closed.
The investigation identified that the process used by Northern for assessing trains before being released into service had permitted the train to be in service with an unidentified intermittent defect. Northern Trains Ltd’s processes for authorising the isolation of engineered safeguards on trains in service did not effectively control the risks created by such isolations.
Also, Northern’s training did not provide the driver with the necessary skills for managing stressful situations.
