Tram crash coroner says tram doors should be strengthened and automatic braking introduced

By Tara O’Connor, local democracy reporter

The coroner in the Croydon tram crash inquest has called on the government to introduce automatic braking and strengthen doors on trams.

Sarah Ormond Walsh presided over a nine week inquest that ended in July and ruled that the seven deaths as a result of the crash in 2016 were accidental.

Last week, the senior coroner for South London issued four prevention of future deaths reports.

In the reports, she urged that automatic braking systems and strengthened doors be installed on trams.

She also said that tram operators should sign up to an anonymous reporting scheme to allow whistle-blowers to report incidents and a national tram safety passenger group is set up.

Jean Smith is the mother of Mark Smith who died after he was ejected through a door of the tram.

The 64-year-old said: “I am pleased the coroner has adopted most of the changes that the families campaigned for, in particular the recommendation that relates to strengthening doors.

“As the coroner points out, it was recommended that doors were strengthened after the crash five years ago and nothing has been done about it.

“It is outrageous that people travelling in trams could suffer the same terrible death that Mark did as they simply haven’t strengthened the doors.”

Ben Posford, partner at Osbornes Law is lead solicitor for five of the seven families said if the recommendations are implemented it will go some way to ensuring that “nobody else will lose their lives in the same horrific way as those who died in the Croydon tram crash”.

He added: “While nothing will bring their loved ones back, the families have always wanted to ensure that no other families in Croydon or the country suffer the same loss of loved ones on tramways.”

Mark Davis, TfL’s general manager for London Trams, said: “Safety will always be our number one priority, and we continue to review our operation and to work with the wider tram industry to introduce any further measures that may benefit the people who rely on our services.

“We have confirmed that any future tram designs will incorporate strengthened doors and have also committed to work with [the manufacturer] to see whether it is possible to retrofit the existing fleet.

“We will be providing a full response to the Senior Coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths report.”

Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Logan, 52, Philip Seary, 57, Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, and Robert Huxley, 63, all from New Addington, and Mark Smith, 35, and Donald Collett, 62, from Croydon, died when a tram overturned at Sandilands Junction, while 62 of the 70 on board were injured, including 19 seriously injured.