Report 03/2006: Collision at Swainsthorpe level crossing
Collision between passenger train and road vehicle at Swainsthorpe level crossing, Norwich, 13 November 2005.
On 13 November 2005, a passenger train and a car at collided at Swainsthorpe level crossing, near Norwich, . Regrettably, the driver of the car was killed. The train was not derailed and none of the passengers or traincrew was injured.
RAIB investigated the performance of the level crossing equipment and the crash worthiness and fire resistance of the train as it became apparent early in the investigation that the car was driven onto the level crossing after the road traffic light signals had been seen to start flashing and the crossing booms had lowered. The reasons why the car was driven onto the crossing are outside the scope of our investigation.
The driving and maintenance of the train and the operation of the level crossing did not contribute to the collision. There was no action that the train driver could have taken to prevent the collision occurring. The train performed well in the areas of both crash worthiness and fire performance.
No recommendations are made as a result of this investigation.