Great Western Railway has been fined £1 million and ordered to pay more than £78,000 in costs after a Welsh woman was killed when she put her head out of a train window. The railway company pleaded guilty to breaches of health and safety law following the preventable tragedy.
Bethan Roper, who was 28, died on December 1, 2018, while returning home to Wales with friends from Christmas shopping in Bath. She placed her head outside a droplight window on the London Paddington to Exeter service and was struck by an overhanging tree branch while the train was travelling at around 75mph near Twerton.
Fatal safety failures
Miss Roper, from Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan, died from head injuries according to a post-mortem examination. WalesOnline reports that toxicology tests found she had a blood alcohol level of 142mg in 100ml of blood, nearly twice the drink-drive limit.
The Office of Rail and Road investigation revealed that GWR was already aware of previous incidents involving droplight windows but failed to act on safety recommendations. Although the company produced a written risk assessment in September 2017 that identified droplight windows as one of the most significant passenger safety risks, the assessment was found to be neither suitable nor sufficient.
Regulatory warnings ignored
A similar passenger death had occurred near Balham in south London in 2016, prompting safety recommendations from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch in May 2017. Despite these warnings, GWR did not implement the actions identified to reduce the risk before Miss Roper's death.
The BBC reports that a 2021 inquest found the yellow warning label reading "Caution do not lean out of window when train is moving" was an insufficient deterrent. Miss Roper was a Welsh Refugee Council worker, Unite union convener, and chair of Socialist Party Wales.
Industry-wide changes implemented
Following Miss Roper's death, further safety recommendations were issued across the rail industry to prevent passengers from leaning out of droplight windows. All rolling stock operated by train companies that had droplight windows has since either been withdrawn from service or fitted with engineering controls to prevent windows being opened while trains are moving.
Richard Hines, chief inspector of railways at the Office of Rail and Road, said: "Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of Bethan Roper. Her death was a preventable tragedy that highlights the need for train operators to proactively manage risks and act swiftly when safety recommendations are made to keep their passengers safe."
Sources used: "WalesOnline", "BBC", "Express" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
