'No further action' against Network Rail over station collapse

The Office of Rail and Road has completed its investigation into the incident in May 2021 and decided it will not look to prosecute Network Rail.

This decision comes amid further delays to the reopening of the ticket office, with the fit-out now not expected to commence until September 2025 at the earliest.

MP for Mid Cheshire, Andrew Cooper, will meet with Network Rail’s group safety and engineering director Martin Frobisher to discuss the matter next month.

He said: “The collapse of the ticket office at Northwich Station should never have been allowed to happen.

“It has had a long-term impact on the mental health of a number of people who were on the platform and caused longstanding disruption to travellers to and from Northwich Station.

“The ORR's thorough investigation has identified a number of shortfalls in procedure that contributed to the collapse. 

"While the decision of the ORR not to pursue a prosecution is unexpected, it is important to look to the future and make sure the rail industry learns lessons from what happened at Northwich, in order to prevent something similar from happening ever again at other stations.

“My number one priority now is to see that the rebuild of Northwich Station is completed and the ticket office is reopened as soon as possible.

“I will continue to work with Network Rail and Northern to ensure that this happens, and that the other issues at this station - including accessibility - are addressed.”

Andrew Cooper at Northwich Station (Image: Andrew Cooper)

On May 18, 2021, part of the ticket office collapsed through the platform canopy and onto the Manchester-bound track, narrowly missing the ticket office assistant and members of the public.

The ORR’s investigation into the incident found there was an ‘unclear division of responsibilities’ between Network Rail and Northern Trains Limited.

Furthermore, there was ‘inadequate management of vegetation’, which had ultimately been the cause of the collapse.

There was also a ‘missed opportunity’ to potentially prevent it from happening in April 2021.

“We understand the significant impact that this incident had on the staff and users of Northwich station,” said a spokesperson for the ORR.

“Following completion of the investigation we considered the full range of enforcement options, taking into consideration matters including the incident severity, whilst recognising the significant work undertaken by Network Rail in response.

“After very careful consideration, we concluded that we would take no further action.

“We continue to hold Network Rail to account for implementing the requirements of our recommendations, including acting on the deficiencies we found with the examination and defect management arrangements for its buildings.”

The ticket office collapsed in May 2021 (Image: Andrew Cooper)

The external rebuild of the ticket office has been completed for around a year now.

However, the fit-out will is not scheduled to begin until next September, although Network Rail saying they are trying to bring this forward.

“We’re very sorry for the delays to getting the Northwich station ticket office up and running," said a spokesperson for the company.

“This has partly been caused by the uncertainty around the future of ticket offices in general across the country, but regardless we know our passengers deserve better.

“The current start date for work on the ticket office is September 2025, which we recognise is unacceptable but we are working hard to bring this forward.

“We will update our passengers and the local community when we know more”.

Northern Rail has been approached for comment.