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Train near-miss: Worker narrowly avoids being hit

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The main line railway at LlandygaiImage source, Eric Jones / Geograph
Image caption,

The near-miss happened in Llandygai, Gwynedd, on 13 February

A railway worker avoided being hit by a train after crawling clear of the track with about a second to spare, a report has warned.

An (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) said the worker was "badly shaken" following the near-miss in Llandegai tunnel in Llandygai, Gwynedd, on 13 February.

It said the driver sounding the horn "probably averted a fatal accident".

The incident was captured on the train's CCTV.

The report said at about 12:33 GMT two workers employed by engineering firm AmcoGiffen were doing inspection work in the tunnel when the incident happened.

The track worker and the controller of site safety had responded to a call-out to check the tunnel for ice after cold weather.

The controller heard the horn, shouted and managed to get to safety on the other line but the track worker fell over and "managed to roll into the space between the tracks".

'Badly shaken'

The 10:25 passenger service from Shrewsbury to Holyhead was travelling close to the maximum permissible line speed of 75 mph (120 km/h) and its driver applied the emergency brake and sounded the horn again.

"CCTV from the train showed that the track worker managed to crawl clear with about a second to spare," the report said.

It added: "No-one was injured, but those involved were badly shaken."

The report found the incident happened because neither the controller nor the track worker was "aware that they were working on a line that was still open to traffic".

It said the controller selected a "site warden warning" system of work, which allowed them to work adjacent to the open running line.

The report said that, if trains had instead been prevented from approaching either line, it would "almost certainly have averted the incident".

It added planning forms had been "partly-completed" and "included pre-written generic reasons that were used to explain the decision".