The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) said it is prosecuting Transport for London, FirstGroup-owned Tram Operations Limited and driver Alfred Dorris for alleged health and safety failings relating to the 2016 Croydon tram crash.

       Announcing the charges, the ORR said TfL allegedly “failed to ensure the health and safety of passengers on the Croydon Tramlink network, so far as reasonably practicable”.

       The ORR's chief inspector of railways Ian Prosser said: “Following a detailed and thorough investigation, we've taken the decision to prosecute Transport for London, Tram Operations Limited and driver Alfred Dorris for what we believe to be health and safety failings.

       “We've made a fair, independent and objective assessment about what happened, and it is now for the court to consider if any health and safety law has been breached.”

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       Prosecutions have been launched over alleged health and safety failings relating to the Croydon tram crash (Steve Parsons/PA)

       (PA Archive)

       The ORR added that a hearing will be held at Croydon Magistrates Court, with a date to be announced.

       “My thoughts are with the families of the seven people who lost their lives on 9 November 2016, the many more injured and everyone whose lives have been impacted as a result of this incident,” Ian Prosser added in a statement.

       A jury concluded last year that the seven people died as a result of an accident and were not unlawfully killed.

       The passengers died after a tram derailed near Sandilands tram stop in south London on 9 November 2016.

       Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Seary, 57, Dorota Rynkiewicz, 35, Robert Huxley, 63, and Philip Logan, 52, all from New Addington, and Donald Collett, 62, and Mark Smith, 35, both from Croydon, were killed.

       Ben Posford, of Osbornes Law, who was lead solicitor for five of the seven families (the families of Mr Logan, Mr Seary, Ms Rynkiewicz, Mr Smith, and Mr Collett) at the inquest, said: “This comes as welcome news for the families of the victims of the Croydon tram crash who have been fighting for years for justice. Their hopes of a criminal prosecution and an unlawful killing conclusion at the inquest were dashed, so I hope they can get some solace from this latest bid to prosecute Tfl, ToL and Mr Dorris.”

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       Six men and one woman were killed in the 2016 crash

       (Family handout)

       The crash expelled several passengers through the broken windows, according to a 2017 report by the Rail Accidents Investigation Branch (RAIB).

       On its 10th day of deliberations at Croydon Town Hall, south London, the 10-person jury reached a unanimous conclusion that the seven deaths were a result of an accident.

       An inquest held last year heard the tram toppled over and spun off the tracks in darkness and heavy rain near the Sandilands stop after hitting a curve at 73kph (45mph).

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       The speed limit for that stretch of track was 20kph (12mph).

       It has been believed that the tram driver fell into a “micro-sleep” soon before the crash happened. The Crown Prosecution Service had concluded in 2019 that “the evidence does not support” gross negligence manslaughter charges being brought against driver Alfred Dorris.