Regulator to review Light Rail safety body

The Office of Rail and Road is reviewing the work of the Light Rail Safety and Standards Board. 

Described by the regulator as “a temperature check”, the review will “assess whether LRSSB is on track with enabling the delivery of the relevant recommendations from RAIB within the sector, and ensure it is on a firm footing as it leads the standards of the sector and continues to evolve”.

In particular, ORR will monitor the light rail body’s progress with the recommendations made by RAIB following the fatal accident at Sandilands (Croydon) in 2016.

Establishment of the LRSSB followed as part of the industry’s response to that incident, in 2019. It is currently in the final year of its initial funding agreement.

Among other aspects, ORR says its review will look at “the impact of the funding on the work of the LRSSB, and whether in its current form it enables LRSSB to continue to grow in a sustainable manner and whether this allows LRSSB to fully commit to the Terms of Reference of the body”.