AN investigation into an incident which saw a near miss between a steam train and a high speed express train has now ended.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has published an 89-page document following its investigation in which it has made five recommendations – three of which are aimed at the steam train’s operator.

The near-miss occurred at around 5.25pm on Saturday, March 7, 2015 at the Royal Wootton Bassett junction when the West Coast Railways-operated service hauled by the locomotive Tangmere passed a signal at the junction which was at danger.

A London Paddington-bound service had passed through less than a minute before.

Although Tangmere is a heritage locomotive, it is fitted with modern safety systems including an Automatic Warning System and a Train Protection and Warning System.

The investigation found that the signal had been passed at danger because the driver had not reduced the train’s speed on approach. This meant that he was unable to stop the train in time once he realised it was at danger.

A RAIB spokesman said: “The driver had not reduced the train’s speed because he had not seen the preceding signal, which was at caution and should have alerted him that [the second signal] was at danger.

"He missed this preceding signal because he had become distracted by activity within the cab and possibly also because he was experiencing a higher workload than normal.”

The report also states that the train’s crew had disabled the warning system in order to by-pass an automatic brake which kicked in during speed restrictions.

“RAIB has found that it had almost certainly become an accepted practice among some train crews on this locomotive. This was probably because warnings from AWS were not always apparent to drivers, who were also anxious to avoid delays resulting from brake demands,” the spokesman said.

RAIB investigations are carried out to prevent future accidents and incidents and improve railway safety, but do not establish blame, liability or carry out prosecutions.

The report outlines five recommendations, one of which calls for greater communication between RSSB, stem train operators and Network Rail to mitigate the risk of steam train movements.

Three recommendations are addressed to West Coast Railways, which relate to a review of its safety management system and safety culture, the implementation of industry best-practice concerning the management of drivers’ knowledge of operating routes and the arrangements for maintaining on train data recorders.

The final recommendation is directed at Network Rail to address the way that emergency and temporary speed restrictions are designed and implemented.

The spokesman said: “RAIB has identified one key learning point. This is that allowing safety critical systems such as AWS and TPWS to function without improper interference is vital to the safe operation of the railway.

“By-passing safety systems, or isolating them other than in accordance with the requirements of the relevant rules, can have catastrophic consequences.”