Safety recommendations have been made to Network Rail after a train hit a pile of bricks from a collapsed wall as politicians state it is fortunate there were no serious injuries. 

A Great Western Railway (GWR) train was travelling at 58mph when the incident happened in Yarnton on February 10 last year, a report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said.

Damage to the train from hitting the bricks meant it could not move, so all passengers were evacuated onto a rescue train with the assistance of Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service.

READ MORE: Parents angry over school's data breach as pupils left 'anxious'

The driver, who did not have time to take any action before the collision occurred, reported that the pile of bricks was 10 metres long and 2.5 metres high.

The RAIB said in its report released on Thursday that the wall adjacent to the railway collapsed when it was no longer able to carry the load imposed by the embankment it was supporting.

It was “known to be in poor condition” by Network Rail but “effective control measures had not been put in place”, investigators found.

The collapse happened within three weeks of an examining engineer observing that a bulge in the brickwork had increased since a previous inspection.

There is a process for an examiner to directly notify Network Rail if it identifies something that requires urgent attention, but this was not thought to be the case in this instance, according to the report.

The RAIB made recommendations to Network Rail, including improving the evaluation of structural defects and how it specifies repair work.

An improved risk scoring procedure for structural defects was also put forward as well as a better understanding of wing walls in bridges. 

READ MORE: Clothes store to shut doors after 14 years in business

Councillor Andrew Gant, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for transport management, said: “When there are issues with bridges over railways they tend to have ramifications for pedestrians, motorists and cyclists as they seek to move around the county.

"As such it is essential that Network Rail learns lessons for the future from this comprehensive report.

“The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has been crystal clear as regards what Network Rail now needs to do to cut down the chances of this type of thing happening again.

“On behalf of the people in this particular area of Oxfordshire and the wider county, we would urge Network Rail to absorb what has been said and quickly act upon the recommendations.

"It is frustrating for everyone when issues that could have been mitigated or avoided lead to huge disruption to people’s day to day lives, as was the case here a year ago.”

Calum Miller, Liberal Democrat prospective MP for the new Bicester and Woodstock constituency,  said: "Today's report makes clear that a very serious accident was avoided only by luck.

"It points to serious shortcomings in Network Rail's processes to identify and manage the risk of collapsing bridges and structures.

"It's shocking that the need for work was identified in 2014 but was delayed from 2019 to 2029.

"Network Rail and the Department for Transport must implement the recommendations without delay to keep our railways safe."

A Network Rail spokesman said: “Safety is our top priority and we’d like to thank passengers for their patience while we worked to repair the bridge in February 2023.

“Following the incident we have assessed the condition of over 200 similarly constructed bridges using existing data, 10 of which received targeted site visits and inspections.

“Repair work to one of those bridges is ongoing.

“We welcome the Rail Accident Investigation Branch’s report into the incident, our teams are working to address the findings and share learning around specific risk of this type of masonry.

“We will continue to work alongside our contractors to implement the four recommendations produced by the RAIB investigation.”