Report 11/2026: Unsafe movement of locomotives being coupled on the Bluebell Railway

Report Overview

R112026_261008_Sheffield ParkDownload

Summary

At around 15:00 on Saturday 9 August 2025, a shunter was coupling two steam locomotives together when they unexpectedly moved while the shunter was in between them. The locomotives moved around 3 metres (10 feet) before the movement was stopped by another member of staff who was on the platform. The shunter was uninjured but was shaken by the incident.

This overview has been truncated. Please refer to the official documents below for the complete canonical report.

Official Documents

R112026_261008_Sheffield Park

Download

Document Content Preview

Extracted text from the first few pages of the official documents.

R112026_261008_Sheffield Park

Report 11/2026 October 2026 Unsafe movement of locomotives being coupled on the Bluebell Railway, East Sussex 9 August 2025 Rail Accident Report This report is published by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, Department for Transport. Email: enquiries@raib.gov.uk Telephone: 01332 253 300 Website: www.raib.gov.uk RAIB The Wharf Stores Road Derby UK DE21 4BA © Crown copyright 2026 You may reuse this document/publication (not including departmental or agency logos) free of charge in any format or medium. You must reuse it accurately and not in a misleading context. The material must be acknowledged as Crown copyright and you must give the title of the source publication. Where we have identified any third party copyright material you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. This document/publication is also available at www.gov.uk/raib. Any enquiries about this publication should be sent to: This investigation was carried out in accordance with: •the Railway Safety Directive 2004/49/E C •the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 •the Railways (Accident Investigation and Reporting) Regulations 2005. Preface The purpose of a Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) investigation is to improve railway safety by preventing future railway accidents or by mitigating their consequences. It is not the purpose of such an investigation to establish blame or liability. Accordingly, it is inappropriate that RAIB reports should be used to assign fault or blame, or determine liability, since neither the investigation nor the reporting process has been undertaken for that purpose. RAIB’s findings are based on its own evaluation of the evidence that was available at the time of the investigation and are intended to explain what happened, and why, in a fair and unbiased manner. Where RAIB has described a factor as being linked to cause and the term is unqualified, this means that RAIB has satisfied itself that the evidence supports both the presence of the factor and its direct relevance to the causation of the accident or incident that is being investigated. However, where RAIB is less confident about the existence of a factor, or its role in the causation of the accident or incident, RAIB will qualify its findings by use of words such as ‘probable’ or ‘possible’, as appropriate. Where there is more than one potential explanation RAIB may describe one factor as being ‘more’ or ‘less’ likely than the other. In some cases factors are described as ‘underlying’. Such factors are also relevant to the causation of the accident or incident but are associated with the underlying management arrangements or organisational issues (such as working culture). Where necessary, words such as ‘probable’ or ‘possible’ can also be used to qualify ‘underlying factor’. Use of the word ‘probable’ means that, although it is considered highly likely that the factor applied, some small element of uncertainty remains. Use of the word ‘possible’ means that, although there is some evidence that supports this factor, there remains a more significant degree of uncertainty. An ‘observation’ is a safety issue discovered as part of the investigation that is not considered to be causal or underlying to the accident or incident being investigated, but does deserve scrutiny because of a perceived potential for safety learning. The above terms are intended to assist readers’ interpretation of the report, and to provide suitable explanations where uncertainty remains. The report should therefore be interpreted as the view of RAIB, expressed with the sole purpose of improving railway safety. Any information about casualties is based on figures provided to RAIB from various sources. Considerations of personal privacy may mean that not all of the actual effects of the event are recorded in the report. RAIB recognises that sudden unexpected events can have both short- and long-term consequences for the physical and/ or mental health of people who were involved, both directly and indirectly, in what happened. RAIB’s investigation (including its scope, methods, conclusions and recommendations) is independent of any inquest or fatal accident inquiry, and all other investigations, including those carried out by the safety authority, police or railway industry. Report 11/2026 Sheffield Park October 2026 Preface Report 11/2026 Sheffield Park 4October 2026 This page is intentionally left blank Report 11/2026 Sheffield Park October 2026 Report 11/2026 Sheffield Park 5October 2026 Unsafe movement of locomotives being coupled on the Bluebell Railway, East Sussex, 9 August 2025 Contents Preface3 Introduction8 Definitions 8 The incident9 Summary of the incident 9 Context9 The sequence of events14 Events preceding the incident 14 Events during the incident 14 Events following the incident 15 Background information 16 Analysis 20 Identification of the immediate cause 20 Identification of causal factors 20 Identification of underlying factors 25 Previous occurrences of a similar character 30 Summary of conclusions31 Immediate cause 31 Causal factors 31 Underlying factor 31 Previous RAIB recommendations relevant to this investigation 32 Actions reported as already taken or in progress relevant to this report34 Actions reported that address factors which otherwise would have resulted in an RAIB recommendation 35 Recommendation36 Recommendation 36 Appendices 37 Appendix A - Glossary of abbreviations and acronyms 37 Appendix B - Investigation details 38 Report 11/2026 6KH�HOG3DUN 6October 2026 This page is intentionally left blank Report 11/2026 Sheffield Park 7October 2026 Summary At around 15:00 on Saturday 9 August 2025, a shunter was coupling two steam locomotives together when they unexpectedly moved while the shunter was in between them. The locomotives moved around 3 metres (10 feet) before the movement was stopped by another member of staff who was on the platform. The shunter was uninjured but was shaken by the incident. The incident occurred during the Bluebell Railway’s 65 th anniversary mini-gala event. The locomotives, named Fenchurch and Stepney, were being coupled in preparation for their return to a nearby shed. The two locomotives unexpectedly began to move because steam pressure was able to build up in the cylinders of Fenchurch, which caused it to make an uncommanded movement. This pressure build-up occurred because the regulator valve was not fully closed, which admitted steam into the cylinders. In addition to this, the reverser was not in a position that would have reduced the risk of movement by the locomotive. Fenchurch had also not been effectively immobilised. This was because its air brake was not fully applied. In addition, the actions the shunter took to prevent Fenchurch from moving were ineffective because they had not been made aware of the type of braking system used by the locomotive. An underlying factor to the incident was that the Bluebell Railway was not effectively managing the risks associated with coupling air-braked rolling stock. RAIB has made one recommendation to the Bluebell Railway. This recommends that the railway undertakes a risk-based review of its arrangements for coupling and uncoupling rail vehicles. Summary Report 11/2026 Sheffield Park 8October 2026 Introduction Definitions 1 Metric units are used in this report, except when it is normal railway practice to give speeds and locations in imperial units. Where appropriate the equivalent metric value is also given. 2 The report contains abbreviations and acronyms, which are explained in appendix A. Sources of evidence used in the investigation are listed in appendix B. Introduction

Text truncated. The original document has 39 pages.

Read the full text here

Accidents Database