Overview

• Great Western Railway pleaded guilty to health and safety breaches brought by the Office of Rail and Road.
• The court imposed a £1 million fine and ordered the company to pay more than £78,000 in costs.
• Bethan Roper, 28, died on 1 December 2018 after leaning out of a droplight window and striking an overhanging tree branch near Twerton, Bath.
• ORR found GWR’s 2017 risk assessment was neither suitable nor sufficient and that planned mitigations were not implemented despite RAIB recommendations following a similar 2016 fatality.
• All trains with droplight windows have since been withdrawn or fitted with controls to prevent opening while moving, and GWR said it accepts the judgment and remains committed to safety.