The Rail Accident Investigation Branch is a Britishgovernment agency that independently investigates rail accidents in the United Kingdom and the Channel Tunnel in order to find a cause, not to lay blame. Created in 2005, it is required by law to investigate accidents causing death, serious injuries or extensive damage. It also has authority to investigate incidents that could have resulted in accidents. It currently has two bases – Derby and Farnborough – to allow it to respond quickly to accidents.
Creation and remit
The Cullen Report into the Ladbroke Grove rail crash in 1999 recommended the establishment of an accident investigation body within the Department for Transport along the same lines as the Marine Accident Investigation Branch and the Air Accident Investigation Branch, bodies that have distinguished themselves by their professionalism and objectivity. In 2003 Parliament legislated – in the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003 – to create the RAIB as an independent body charged solely with establishing the facts of the case and assessing and evaluating causes, but not apportioning blame or establishing liability; nor does the RAIB enforce safety law or conduct prosecutions. The RAIB became operational on 17 October 2005. Before then, railway accidents were investigated by Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate, and the British Transport Police. Whilst the police must always be involved when there may have been a crime, the involvement of HMRI as the principal safety investigating agency attracted criticism on the grounds that the HSE might be investigating itself, if, for example, the HSE had approved a track layout or a signalling scheme later suspected to have been at fault. The RAIB also satisfies the government's duty under European Union legislation to provide an independent rail accident investigation body that investigates incidents and accidents in a blame-free manner. The RAIB has its remit laid downin law by The Railways Regulations 2005, which principally require the branch to investigate any accident or dangerous occurrence that results in:
The death of at least one person;
Serious injury to five or more people; or
Extensive damage to rolling stock, the infrastructure or the environment.
The RAIB has authority to investigate any accident that occurs on any of the following railway transport systems, but especially investigates those that may have implications for railway safety or those that "...under slightly different circumstances, may have resulted in an accident":
The agency has two operational centres: a facility in Derby and in Farnborough. Previously its southern office was in Woking, Surrey. The RAIB has this setup so that it can quickly respond to rail accidents in any part of the United Kingdom. The Chief Inspector and Deputy Chief Inspector operate out of both Derby and Farnborough offices. Each site has two inspectorate teams and its own operational support staff.
