A report into a horrific accident at West Wickham station which left a woman with "life-changing injuries" found human error could be partly to blame.

The 27-year-old was getting off a train at the station, in Station Road, just after 11.30am on April 10 last year.

The woman boarded the London Cannon Street to Hayes service at New Cross, which was driven by a trainee driver under the supervision of an instructor.

While leaving the carriage, the train doors promptly shut – trapping the strap of her backpack.

As the train began to move she was dragged along before falling into the gap between the train and the platform.

She shouted for help as she was pulled across the platform, and a man who had gotten off seconds before unsuccessfully tried to get the drivers’ attention.

He comforted her until emergency services arrived. 

A British Transport Police (BTP) spokesman said they found her on the tracks with severe head and leg injuries, and immediately air lifted her to hospital.

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The devastating accident left her with "life-changing" injuries.

But shockingly neither driver realised what had happened.

The report added: “Neither driver was aware of the accident until they were told by the signaller after the train arrived at Hayes.”

Shocked passengers reported seeing the bag still stuck in the doors when the train pulled in to the next station.

In a sobering statement, the woman said rather than free herself from the strap she tried to free her bag from the train instead, as she "believed the doors would open if a person was trapped".

The catastrophic accident was referred to the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB), which launched a thorough investigation.

Publishing its findings today (February 29), it found a fault – unknown to the owners and operators – allowed the door to open despite the driver having already initiated the door closing sequence.

It found the fault only occurred when a passenger presses the illuminated open door button within less than one second after the driver had begun to close them.

But, despite the very rare situation this fault occurs in, an element of human error could have been a contributing factor.

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The Southeastern train was a "driver only operation", meaning after the doors were closed and before leaving the station, the driver was required to check it was safe to drive on by viewing the CCTV cameras on the platform.

The report stated: “Two of these monitor images showed that a passenger appeared to be trapped but, although visible from the driving cab, neither the trainee driver nor the instructor was aware of this.”

The trapped woman would have been visible on the screens for around nine seconds struggling to get free.

A Southeastern spokesman said: “This was a terrible incident that has had a life-changing effect on this young woman and our thoughts are very much with her.

“We have worked very closely with the Rail Accident Investigation Branch to assist them in their investigation."

The RAIB uncovered 21 other types of trains were capable of the same fault, and ordered changes to be made to the control systems.

In addition the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) is seeking changes so that staff must watch the doors closing, and check they have shut safely.

Leaving enough time to alight, manually checking doors and not relying on the ‘door interlock’ light, door control design and the use of driving simulations were all flagged up as areas for improvement.

To read the report visit: www.gov.uk/raib-reports/