Heritage Rail Safety and Standards Board
This page is intended to give a brief outline of the Heritage Railway Safety and Standards Board. It is not intended to be exhaustive, merely to give a flavour of the work going on. Further information will be added as work progresses and HRA members will be kept up to date.
Background
In June 2018, in the wake of the Croydon tram incident at Sandilands and the consequent RAIB report, the ORR’s Chief Inspector of Railways stated to the HRA that it should seriously consider establishing a safety and standards board dedicated to heritage rail.
He noted that it was a response to the significant incident and loss of life at Sandilands that created the LRSSB and further noted that the RSSB was established following the Public Inquiry into the Ladbroke Grove disaster.
The heritage rail sector has not yet had a comparable significant incident.
The ORR and the HRA believe that, without continuing improvements to safety, consistency of approach and the establishment of standards for the sector, all the risks remain:
- The potential for a serious incident, comparable to Ladbroke Grove or Sandilands, remains considerably higher
- In the event of a serious incident, the reputational damage to the heritage rail sector – and potentially the wider rail industry, tourism and the wider heritage sector – could be severe
- In the event of a serious incident or a continuing number of smaller but still significant incidents, there may be resultant suspension or closure of heritage rail operations and loss of jobs
- The likelihood of continuing enforcement action remains high.
It should be noted that the HRA has no mandate or statutory authority to dictate to heritage railways.
Nonetheless, with the encouragement of the ORR and a number of the leading heritage railways, plus the unanimous approval by HRA members at the 2020 AGM, the HRA has progressed the formation of a safety and standards board for the sector.
Timeline to date
2018 - the ORR asked the HRA to consider the establishment of a dedicated safety and standards board for heritage rail … Not an easy task or straight-forward to implement!
2019 - the HRA tasked itself with taking this forward and communicating to members, receiving unanimous member support at the February 2020 AGM
2020/21 – Covid. Steering group established and some initial scoping undertaken
2022 - Planning and scoping work completed, financial business plan established, and funding requirements identified. Sought government funding
2023 – Alternative sources of funding investigated. Worked with ORR to justify to Government establishing a dedicated safety and standards board for heritage rail and the rationale behind our ask to Government (DfT) for funding.
Why is the proposed solution the most appropriate one?
- Establishing the HRSSB is fully supported by the ORR - They have been fully engaged with our plans
- Links established with the RSSB, LRSSB, PWI, Network Rail, and various informal networks across the heritage rail sector
- Neither the RSSB nor the LRSSB can provide the dedicated focus required by the heritage sector and are not resourced to do so
- Heritage rail is not national rail and heritage rail is not modern tramways
- The HRSSB needs to be independent enough to drive and focus on heritage, drive relevant heritage-level standards, and not be a minor add-on to a larger body.
How will it work?
- HRSSB will be the custodian for heritage rail standards for the UK
- Standards will:
- Cover operations, engineering, safety management, competence, governance, management, environment, quality and health and welfare
- Be written, approved and codified using an agreed process
- Be produced by relevant and experienced personnel – subject matter experts – drawn largely from within the heritage rail sector
- All documentation will be peer reviewed
Scope
Not only the production of documents but also the stewardship, publication and arrangement for secure access
Standards and guidance
Everything produced will be fully aligned with, and seen as supporting documents for, delivery of a Risk Management Maturity Model Heritage (commonly known as 'RM3H') improvement cycle.
Anticipated outcomes
- Specific industry risk analysis for the heritage rail sector will have been developed. The sector will have better information on risk which will be used by the HRSSB as an input to prioritising activity
- Best practice and up-to-date industry information feeds directly into the production of standards and guidance
- Heritage railways significantly better informed to assist in decision-making on compliance with their duties as duty-holders
- Through collaboration, there is improved understanding across the rail industry leading to better informed regulation
- Every heritage railway can measure and judge their sustainability by safety rather than just by finance
- Heritage railways are significantly better supported in achieving compliance with safety regulations and legislation
- Competence and control of risk across heritage railways is demonstrably improved
- Sector safety record and level of enforcement action better-than, or at least comparable to, the mainline
- The RM3 assessment for the heritage rail sector, as compiled by the ORR, shows it is operating at a level at least commensurate with the mainline sector.
Structure
- Implementation Board established
- comprises a chairman from the rail industry, CEO of the HRA, one HRA director and the chair of the HRA’s current Operating and Safety Committee
- HRSSB, as a corporate body, is being established as a Community Benefit Society (CBS)
- Structured similarly to a private limited company but regulated under the Financial Conduct Authority, it will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of the HRA and, subject to legal advice, may be charitable.
Future governance
The Board will comprise:
- Independent non-executive Chair
- 2 x non-executive directors drawn from the sector
- 2 x non-executive HRA directors
- 1 x non-executive director drawn from tourism and/or cultural heritage
- HRA CEO
- Company Secretary
- ORR observer
Reporting
The Board will report quarterly to the HRA board and, for information purposes, to the ORR.
The Board will produce a publicly available annual report.
Audit
As well as normal company financial auditing, the board will ensure there is independent scrutiny and assessment on progress against objectives.
What's next ... 2024 to 2027
The aspiration is that the heritage rail sector is self-reliant. To get there, it currently needs guidance, support and external funding
Objectives of the HRA:
- Full establishment of the Heritage Rail Safety and Standards Board
- Development and promotion of the Boiler Engineering Skills and Training Trust (BESTT)
- Establishment of a volunteer conciliation service
- Develop a ‘directory of expertise’
- Establish ‘Pinched with Pride’
- Secure funding
- Recruit new HRA staff member to cover standards, guidance and safety
- Recruit chair, board and staff for HRSSB
- Encourage improved understanding of the role of governance
- Attracting younger generations to the sector
- Encouraging increased collaboration between members … potentially sharing key director and/or management roles … and potentially merging railway companies.
