Families of the seven people killed in the Croydon tram crash marked its tenth anniversary on 9 November by saying the justice system had failed them, renewing their call for a public inquiry and changes to tramway safety law.
A decade on from the derailment at Sandilands, relatives said they were still waiting for an inquiry and for a legal loophole to be closed. They want safety rules to apply to trams travelling on tramways as they do to trams on roads.
About 500 people attended an anniversary service in New Addington. The commemoration brought remembrance of those who died together with the families’ continuing demand for answers about the disaster and the rules intended to protect passengers.
The Sandilands derailment
Tram 2551 derailed on a sharp bend at Sandilands at 06:07 on 9 November 2016. It was carrying 69 passengers and travelling at more than 43mph, over three times the recommended limit. Seven people died and 61 were injured, including 19 who suffered serious injuries.
The crash remains a disaster with a lasting human cost for bereaved relatives and those injured. The anniversary was an occasion to remember the people killed, but the families’ statements also made clear that the passage of time has not resolved their questions about accountability.
Eight fire engines and five rescue units attended the scene in 2016. At the anniversary service, London Fire Commissioner Jonathan Smith laid a wreath alongside emergency service partners, marking the role of those who responded to the derailment.
The New Addington service gave those attending a shared occasion to commemorate the seven people who died. Alongside that remembrance, relatives continued to press for a process they believe is still needed: a public inquiry into the disaster.
Court outcomes and calls for change
Transport for London and Tram Operations Limited pleaded guilty to health and safety failures. TfL was fined £10m and Tram Operations Limited £4m. The tram driver, Alfred Dorris, was cleared of health and safety offences.
Those outcomes are distinct. The organisations admitted health and safety failures, while the driver was cleared. The families’ dissatisfaction with the justice system does not change his legal status, and their call for further scrutiny centres on the inquiry and changes to the law they continue to seek.
For relatives, the conclusion of those proceedings has not brought an end to their campaign. Their anniversary statements set out a continuing gap between the court outcomes and the broader examination of the disaster they want a public inquiry to provide.
The legal change they seek concerns where tram safety rules apply. Trams can operate on roads and on tramways, and families want the law to apply on tramways as it does on roads. Their demand is therefore about the regulatory framework as well as the response to this particular crash.
Remembrance and support
Mark Davis, TfL’s general manager for London Trams, said the organisation remembered the seven people who died. He also said it was “very sorry” to anyone who felt let down by its support, pointing to the Sarah Hope Line.
That acknowledgement addressed the support available to people affected by the disaster. The relatives’ demands also extend beyond support: they want a public inquiry and a change in the law. Those remain the central issues in the campaign they renewed on the anniversary.
For London, the commemoration is a reminder that the consequences of the Sandilands derailment continue beyond the court proceedings. The fines and the driver’s clearance are established legal outcomes, but they have not settled the bereaved families’ concerns about how tramway safety is governed.
The campaign keeps pressure on TfL and the Department for Transport over those unresolved questions. Whether a public inquiry will be established, and whether the legal change sought by relatives will be made, remain unanswered as families mark a decade since the crash.
