Croydon tram crash update: Operators at Old Bailey fined £14m; Know how the 2016 accident happened

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Croydon tram crash is still fresh in the minds of Londoners as an accident that could have been avoided. In an update, the tram operators have been fined £14m at the Old Bailey. Seven people died in the crash. While Transport for London (TfL) was fined £10m, Tram Operations Limited (TOL) was fined £4m. The operators were also told to pay £500,000 in costs. The accident occurred on November 9, 2016, when the tram carrying 69 people at fast speed, toppled over on a sharp bend.

Driver Alfred Dorris was cleared of health and safety offences by a jury at the Old Bailey in June 2023. Dorris told the trial that he had become disorientated and thought he was going in the other direction. The judge ruled that the «complacency» around the inadequate lighting and lack of visual cues in the tunnel was «disturbing».

The seven people who died in the Croydon tram crash were New Addington residents Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Seary, 57, Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, Robert Huxley, 63, and Philip Logan, 52, and Croydon residents Donald Collett, 62, and Mark Smith, 35. Another 61-62 passengers suffered injuries in the accident, and 21 were seriously injured, with many having life-changing injuries. Justice Fraser told the court on Day 3 of the sentencing hearing: «This was undoubtedly an accident waiting to happen, quite literally.» He added that warnings were not heeded about the possibility of drivers becoming disoriented in the Sandilands tunnel network on the approach to the curve. A «near-miss» incident report days before the Croyden crash had also been «ignored», he said. London's Transport Commissioner Andy Lord apologized for failing the passengers. The