THERE were 23 incidents in which trains passed stop signals in February, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said yesterday.
In its monthly report on so-called Spads (Signals Passed at Danger), the HSE said it was the lowest number for the month of February for 18 years. Six incidents were considered serious compared with 17 in February last year.
Recorded Spads included an incident involving an Arriva Trains Northern train at the Bowesfield Junction, between Eaglescliffe and Thornaby, Teesside, at 9.16am on Februrary 24.
The HSE said the train passed a stop signal by eight yards before it stopped, although this was rated as only a low severity incident.
There was only one incident in which a train ran past the signal by more than 200 yards and in 13 cases trains ran past the signal by 25 yards or less.
In most cases trains are allowed a safety overlap of up to 200 yards when passing a stop signal.
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