AN IMPROVEMENT notice has been issued to the rail operator whose service narrowly missed a high speed train at Wootton Bassett Junction in March.

Following a thorough investigation into the operations of charter train firm West Coast Railways Company, the regulator – Office Of Rail And Road (ORR) – found no grounds to revoke its safety certificate or bring criminal charges.

At 5.25pm on Saturday, March 7, the 13-carriage Cathedrals Express service, hauled by Battle of Britain class steam locomotive No.34067 Tangmere, failed to stop at a danger signal on the approach to the junction near the town and overshot the signal by 700 yards.

It came to rest crossing the junction just one minute after the previous train had passed.

The train was travelling between Bristol Temple Meads and Southend Victoria. The service narrowly avoided was First Great Western’s 15:28 Swansea to London Paddington high-speed passenger service.

The company was handed a total network ban from Network Rail, which has since been lifted.

After considerable improvements in safety monitoring, the ORR investigation has now concluded.

Ian Prosser, the director of railway safety at ORR, said: “Safety on the railways is ORR’s absolute priority, and we will not allow services to run where we see there are safety risks.

“Following the serious incident where a West Coast Railway Company train passed a signal warning at danger near Wootton Bassett Junction on March 7, 2015, ORR inspectors have carried out an extensive investigation into the standards of safety on their passenger services.

“The regulator’s initial investigation found shortfalls in the WCRC’s safety management system.

“And, in response, the company has introduced enhanced safety procedures and appropriate staff competence regimes.

“ORR inspectors have been on site examining the new safety arrangements and inspecting WCRC passenger services to ensure that the necessary changes are being fully implemented by the company.”

Mr Prosser also said that the firm continued to deliver improvements to safety.

“ORR has issued an Improvement Notice to ensure WCRC delivers further improvements,” he said.

“This will ensure workers are provided with suitable training and effective systems to control safety risks and have clearly defined performance indicators in place.

“ORR will closely monitor the company and will not hesitate to step in if any non-compliance with the Improvement Notice is found.”