The identity of the driver of the Salisbury train which crashed last Sunday has been revealed. 

The driver of the South Western Railway train which skidded through a red signal and recieved life-changing injuries has been named as 74-year-old Robin Tandy. 

SWR said Mr Tandy, who started working at the railway when he was just 15, has “over 50 years’ experience of driving on this route and an excellent professional track record”.

SWR managing director Claire Mann said Mr Tandy, who remains in hospital, “reacted correctly to the signals by braking to slow the train down”.

She went on: “We believe his actions went some way to preventing a much more serious incident and we wish him a speedy recovery.”

It added that all its drivers are “regularly assessed to the highest standards and he has fully satisfied all requirements”.

There is no mandatory retirement age for train drivers in Britain.

A driver can keep their licence as long as they pass regular medical and competence assessments.

The RAIB said in a preliminary report that the collision was due to the SWR train’s wheels slipping on the rails and running through a red danger signal.

Low adhesion between train wheels and rails can be particularly severe in the autumn due to leaves falling from the 13 million trees near Britain’s rail lines.

A thin, slippery layer is created when trains pass over leaves, which has a similar effect to black ice on roads.

It makes it harder for trains to accelerate and brake effectively, leading to some operators publishing special autumn timetables to allow extra time for trains to be driven more cautiously.

Martin Frobisher, Network Rail’s safety and engineering director, said on Tuesday night that the issue “affects railways across the world” and is something that the industry bodies “work hard to combat so that we can run trains safely and reliably throughout autumn”.

Disruption to services through Salisbury is expected to continue until at least the end of the day on Monday November 8.

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