DLR fined £450,000 for failing to stop train that killed man
Docklands Light Railway operator Serco has been fined £450,000 after it failed to stop a train which hit and killed a man who had fallen off a platform.
Robert Carter, 34, stumbled on to the lines at All Saints station following a late-night argument with another passenger, Paul Green.
Mr Green telephoned police to say Mr Carter had a knife and had fallen on to the track.
Officers asked the DLR control room to check if someone was on the lines, but this was treated as an "informal request" rather than an actual report, Southwark Crown Court was told.
A control room operator failed to see Mr Carter on the track and did not halt the trains, which are automatic and do not have an actual driver.
Shortly afterwards another member of the control room staff saw a police officer on All Saints station's CCTV waving his arms above his head.
This operator immediately pressed an emergency plunger to halt an oncoming train but it was too late. The wheels struck Mr Carter, who suffered serious injuries and died in hospital.
Serco was also ordered to pay £43,773 costs. It was found guilty last month, under health and safety regulations, of failing to ensure its automatic trains did not hit people who were on the tracks.
Judge Deborah Taylor, passing sentence yesterday, said: "Serco fell considerably below what was required of it."
Procedures were "not robust or comprehensive enough" in dealing with incidents of human error. But the judge said it was clear that Serco "took safety seriously " and there was "no suggestion profit was put before safety".
David Travers, QC, prosecuting for the Office of Rail Regulation, said Mr Carter was involved in an altercation with another passenger at All Saints.
"After he fell, it would appear that
Mr Carter was unable or unwilling to move — whether through injuries from the fall, intoxication or for some other reason is unknown," said Mr Travers.
"DLR staff looked at the station on their CCTV monitors, which are not suitable for seeing if anyone is on the track, and failed to see Mr Carter. The train which killed Mr Carter could have been stopped before reaching the station."
Jurors were played a recording of the British Transport Police call to the DLR control centre, in which line controller Paul Day was heard to say: "There's certainly no one on the track."
Stephen Moody, for Serco, said it had made several changes since the incident and improved safety procedures. It denied one count of failing to comply with its health and safety duties.
