2016 Croydon tram derailment

On 9 November 2016, a tram operated by Tramlink, running from New Addington to Wimbledon, derailed and overturned on the approach to a junction close to the Sandilands tram stop in Croydon, south London. There were seven fatalities with at least fifty-one other people injured. The tram was crowded when the accident took place shortly after 06:10 GMT. It was one of the deadliest transport incidents in years, and the first fatal tram incident in the UK since 1959.

Accident
The accident took place in wet weather at approx&shy;imately 06:10, before sunrise, on a sharp left-hand curve approach&shy;ing the points where route 3 from New Addington (on which the tram was operating) converges with the line from Beckenham Junction and Elmers End. The curve is located in a cutting, which comes almost immediately after the line emerges from a series of three tunnels on a 1 mi straight section of track after leaving Lloyd Park tram stop. It has been described as a "sharp bend", and has a 20 km/h speed restriction. Initial indications are that the tram was travelling at a "significantly higher" speed than this. The tram was a Bombardier CR4000, No. 2551, which is a two-section single-articulated unit and has a maximum design speed of 80 km/h. The tram overturned onto its right-hand side, falling outside the curve on which it was travelling and trapping several people inside. The Office of Rail and Road confirmed that British trams are not fitted with any safety protection systems that would apply the brakes automatically if they are going too fast.

The emergency services confirmed that 51 people were injured, and initially stated five had been killed. The death toll later rose to seven. Eight of the survivors were described as having serious or life-threatening injuries.

The injured were taken to St George's Hospital, Tooting, and to Croydon University Hospital. As well as the 51 people taken to hospital, seven more made their own way to hospital for treatment. Twenty-two ambulances, eight fire engines and over seventy firefighters from the London Fire Brigade were sent to the scene. It was the deadliest tram accident in the United Kingdom since an accident at Dover in 1917 killed eleven and injured 60, and the first in the United Kingdom in which passengers were killed since 1959. It is also the deadliest accident on any rail network in the UK since the 2001 Great Heck rail crash.

Aftermath
FirstGroup, which operates the tram on behalf of TfL, said it was "shocked and saddened by what happened". An extra minute was added to the two-minute Armistice Day silence at Croydon Cenotaph.

During the night of 10–11 November, the tram was righted in preparation for removal from the accident site. The tram was removed from the site on the morning of 12 November.

Investigation
The driver of the tram, who survived the accident, was subsequently arrested by the British Transport Police on suspicion of manslaughter. The Sun on Sunday claimed that the driver was composing a text message on his mobile phone immediately before the accident. This claim is reported to be under investigation. After questioning, he was released on bail until May 2017. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch is investigating the accident, with data from the tram's on-board event recorder being analysed. Initial indications suggested that the tram was travelling at a significantly higher speed than permitted. Following the accident, it emerged that there had been previous reports of trams travelling round the curve at excessive speeds. One such incident occurred on 31 October with some witnesses describing the trams as "tipping" on the curve. One aspect of the investigation is whether or not the tram driver fell asleep or blacked out at the controls. On 11 November investigators said they were still collecting evidence and that they planned to release an interim report the following week.