No closure for rail worker's family six years on

The family of a rail worker killed by a train has said they still have not got closure six years after his death.

Gareth Delbridge, 64, and Michael "Spike" Lewis, 58, were hit by a Great Western Railway train travelling from Swansea to London Paddington in July 2019 while they worked on the line at Margam, Neath Port Talbot.

Network Rail, which was fined £3.75m over the deaths last week, said it was continuing to transform the safety of its workforce.

Adrian Grant, Mr Delbridge's son-in-law, told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast the family had fought to be kept updated regarding Network Rail's changes.

"They've [Network Rail] made some big steps on what we can see, into preventing it from happening again," he said.

"To keep getting it right, it's going to take some really, really hard management because Network Rail are such a huge company," he added.

In 2019, the two men had been working for Network Rail when they were struck and killed by a train following safety failures.

A third track worker also came close to being hit, with a previous report describing him as "severely traumatised".

At Swansea Crown Court on Friday, Recorder Christian Jowett fined Network Rail £3.75m, saying the company had failed to put in place proper measures to protect the workers.

The judge said issues surrounding safety policy had been known for some time and the firm had failed to make improvements.

Network Rail previously admitted its role in the men's deaths.

The families of the two men said no legal outcome could fill the "irreplaceable void" in their lives.

Mr Grant said initially when the investigation had started, it felt like David against Goliath.

"It was obvious that there were so many single points of failure as well as systemic failures within the rail.

"It's very difficult when you're small families up against a big corporate company," he said.

He added both families wanted to prevent this from repeating and demanded to be updated on changes to safety.

Speaking fondly of his father-in-law, he called Mr Delbridge a "real family" man who loved the community and his funeral reflected that.

"There was so many people, they were lining the sides of the road with the cars going up," he said.

"That wasn't just local community, there was messages received from all over the country where he been away for the rugby group or the darts tournament.

"Everyone knew him and loved him, so it's been difficult," he said.

Nick Millington, route director for Network Rail Wales and Borders, said his thoughts remain with the families of Mr Delbridge and Mr Lewis.

He added the company was continuing to transform the safety of its workforce through the development of new technology and planning tools.