Read Right Track 40

What’s in a name? Don’t worry, I’m not going to start quoting Shakespeare at you, although from our point of view perhaps his best line is ‘Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety’. If you’ve read Red for Danger, you’ll know what I’m getting at. If you saw it in the public inquiry report on the Hixon level crossing collision of 1968, have 50 points. If you knew the line came from Henry IV Part I, add 1,000 more.

If someone asked me what’s in a name, though, I think I’d have to answer ‘everything’. Quintinshill, Lewisham, Ladbroke Grove – an accident’s location alone can stir the memory and chill the blood. And rightly so – this is how we help ourselves to remember. But what about the names of individual people? 

On 9 February 2021, a passenger train struck and killed a Controller of Site Safety near Surbiton station. He was one of four track workers involved in inspecting crossovers in the area. His name was Tyler Byrne. He was 30 – no age at all.

Similarly, Margaret Masson was killed in the Grayrigg derailment, Priscilla Tropp died after falling at Mill Hill Broadway station, and Donald Dinnie, Brett McCullough and Christopher Stuchbury were killed at Carmont. 

Many of these people have featured in Right Track. All of these people had families and friends. They will never forget those names. There are many people in our industry who have never forgotten them either. We should all try to follow their example.

What’s in a name? Everything.