Today the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, refused to back calls to launch an independent inquiry into significant issues recently exposed concerning the investigation into the deeply distressing 2016 Croydon tram crash.
The crash tragically killed seven people and injured 62.
Nearly three years after the crash, the families still have no closure on its causes and the driver of the crashed tram remains under threat of criminal prosecution. No reasonable person considers this to be an acceptable situation.
The issues exposed by members of the London Assembly and industry experts, led to the GMB Union passing a motion demanding an independent inquiry.
I have today written to Sarah Jones, Labour MP for Croydon Central, to join me in formally requesting that Mayor Khan changes his mind, and allows the families affected, and the wider Croydon community, to achieve closure.
My letter to Sarah is pasted here, but you can see it and the letter I sent to Mayor Khan attached below.
Dear Sarah,
Independent investigation urgently needed into TfL’s handling of Fatigue Audit IA 17 780.
I hope you are well.
You will be aware that evidence has come to light in recent days that TfL watered down an internal report about faults in the fatigue management of the tram operator involved in the Croydon tram crash that in 2016 tragically killed seven people and injured 62.
Evidence suggests senior managers at Transport for London appear to have removed critical comments from an audit of fatigue controls at Tram Operations Limited (TOL) after the company complained that it was too negative.
Correspondence released to the public shows TfL agreed to revise the draft after executives at TOL objected that it was too critical and contradicted a verbal assurance they’d been given when the auditor finished his examination that his report would be generally positive.
I am sure you are as shocked as I am that TfL would seek to soften the report after discussions with the tram operator, particularly given the heightened public concern about driver fatigue at the time.
Michael Liebreich, who chaired the TfL panel responsible for overseeing safety issues at the time of the audit, urged London Mayor Sadiq Khan then to launch an independent inquiry into TfL’s handling of the report.
In a letter he recently sent to Mayor Khan, he explains: “Unfortunately, before the GLA Transport Committee gets to the more general discussion about safety, it will also be asking for my understanding of the events around TfL’s failure to send Fatigue Audit IA 17 780 to the various bodies investigating the Sandilands crash – namely the RAIB, BTP, SNC Lavalin, ORR and the coroners’ office.”
So not only was the report softened, but it was also not sent to the various investigating bodies.
Yesterday the London Assembly Transport Committee met to discuss TfL’s handling of the Croydon Tram Crash. Mr Liebreich gave evidence and reiterated his concerns about the processes followed by the officials under Mayor Khan’s purview. Several members of the committee believed the session raised more questions than it answered. There are concerns that this has not been dealt with in the right way and that TfL have not followed the correct procedures. Committee members made calls for an independent inquiry. The Labour Deputy Mayor for Transport, however, opposed the need for an Independent Investigation.
This is not the first time Labour have refused to countenance an independent investigation. This summer the GMB Union passed Motion 412 which called “for the Mayor of London to appoint an independent investigation to review why TfL failed to supply critical tram safety evidence to the Croydon Tram Crash Investigators, the Office of Road & Rail and the British Transport Police. In July this year the London Assembly called on Mayor Khan to appoint an independent investigation into the role Transport for London (TfL) played in supplying evidence to the Croydon Tram Crash Investigators. Labour Assembly members abstained on the motion, choosing to not to support the independent investigation.
Today at Mayor’s Question Time Mayor Khan publicly rejected an investigation and batted away any suggestion of the report being doctored – despite the well-publicised evidence.
On September 6th 2019, soon after the initial story broke, you tweeted: “I will be looking carefully at the case for an independent inquiry and speaking to those who have raised concerns. I’ve already written to the Deputy Mayor for Transport and following the London assembly committee session next week I will be making a further statement."
Six days have now passed since that tweet.
- Do you agree with me, the GMB Union and members of the London Assembly that it is clearly time for an independent inquiry?
- Will you publish your correspondence with the Deputy Mayor for Transport, the same Deputy Mayor who rejected calls for an independent investigation yesterday?
- Will you use your influence in the London Labour Party to lobby Mayor Sadiq Khan to change his mind and launch an independent inquiry?
Nearly three years after the crash, the families still have no closure on its causes and the driver of the crashed tram remains under threat of criminal prosecution. No reasonable person considers this to be an acceptable situation.
I look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Kind Regards,
Mario Creatura
Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Croydon Central
Photo by Oliver Needham on Unsplash
