07/12/2017 London News

Join me now on BBC Two.

Here on BBC One it's time

for the news where you are.

Good evening and welcome to BBC

London News with me,

Louisa Preston.

It was a day that changed

lives in Croydon.

A tram travelling at speed derailed,

killing seven people

and injuring dozens more.

Today the findings of an official

report into the crash

were published, which found:

that the driver had probably dozed

off moments before it happened.

The speed warning signs

for drivers weren't

appropriately positioned.

And there was a "culture of fear"

among staff which meant

incidents weren't being reported.

One of the survivors,

who broke her neck after being

thrown from the carriage,

says "things must change".

She's been speaking to our

Transport Correspondent Tom Edwards.

All I could feel, my head

was pounding, my neck was hurting,

I couldn't breathe.

I was just...

All I could think of

was pain, pain, pain.

Christine fractured her neck and

broke ribs

in the Croydon tram rush.

She was thrown through

one of the windows.

I was sitting through the window,

because the window had

completely broken out.

And I was sitting, I could see

the tram tracks and the stones.

She was rescued from this wreckage

and spent over three weeks in

hospital.

She's lost her job,

and her old life is gone.

I'm in constant pain all the time.

I can't sleep, I don't even

know what eight hours'

sleep is like any more.

I'm suffering.

I'm alive and I thank God

for that, but I'm suffering

and struggling as well.

Constant pain all the time.

My life has changed completely.

Today's report found a broken

reporting system at the tram

operator run by First Group.

Nine drivers told investigators

they were going so fast they used

the emergency brake,

on the same sharp corner

where the tram later derailed,

but they didn't feel

they could report it.

And just days before the crash

a tram nearly toppled over taking

the same corner too fast,

and a passenger complaint

from Chantelle Singh

wasn't acted on properly.

I was thinking - this is it,

that's the end of my life,

because when I looked up and looked

through the window, there

was another tram waiting there -

I think it was a Beckenham Junction

tram, just at the junction -

and I was just thinking

that I was going to die.

Just thinking I was going to die.

I believe that, and any other driver

could potentially have been put

in the same position,

and therefore I think that the tram

operator needs to come out

and explain why that previous event

was not properly investigated,

and what steps they will take

to make sure that any near-misses

such as this are properly reported

and properly investigated.

Christine isn't sure who to blame,

but she wants the authorities

to make changes so the same thing

doesn't happen again.

They do need to really really

get their staff to be able to talk

to them if there is a problem,

because negligence causes lives

to be ruined, you know.

You can't just have your staff

and your staff can't come

to you if there is a problem,

because we are putting our

lives in their hands.

Well, Transport for London has

offered its condolences

to the families affected and today

they told our Political Editor,

Tim Donovan, that all 15

of the recommendations made

were already being acted upon.

Immediately we lowered the speed

limit on the tram system totally.

Where the speed goes from a higher

speed to a lower speed

with quite a difference,

we staged those down,

so down from 70 to 60,

to 40 to 20 kilometres per hour.

We have changed the signage

on the sharp corners in order

to make sure that the drivers

are fully aware of the approaching

corner, and we have fitted a device

in the cab of the tram,

a driver protection device,

which is designed to

guard against fatigue.

It is widely used in the trucking

industry, and also in coaches,

especially overseas,

and this detects whether the driver

perhaps is suffering

from a distraction, maybe a fatigue,

sets off an alarm and also shakes

the seat to make sure the driver's

always vigilant at all times.

But it took this tragedy

for you to do this,

when it shouldn't have

done, should it?

Because there were other

incidents that were reported.

There was one other incident

just a few days before

which wasn't reported -

alarming.

The system has had a very good

safety record, but sadly

on the 31st October,

just a few days before

this tragic incident,

a member of the public did send

in a report that a tram, she felt,

had been travelling too fast.

This report went straight to the

operator, Tram Operations Limited,

and was in the process

of being investigated.

And only a few days

later, of course, we had

the terrible tragedy.

Now, this report took far too

long to investigate.

One of the things that we have done

now is to make sure that those

reports come through us at Transport

for London so we have

visibility of them straightaway,

because we want to make sure

that these investigations,

when there are reports like this,

are acted on immediately.

Do you accept that if it had

been acted on faster,

that actually these lives

could have been saved?

The report does say that that

particular incident was not a causal

factor of this incident,

but it has to be the case that

anybody who has any concerns

about anything to do with safety

on our transport system in London

feels able to report it

and we should act on it as soon

as possible in order to prevent any

sort of safety incident.

And do you accept that that has not

happened and you should be really

concerned about that?

Because people have talked

about a culture of fear,

an inability to report,

or a worry about reporting

to this operator?

What do you say about that?

Well, nobody should have any fear.

Members of staff...

But they did have.

Well, they shouldn't have,

because they have a number

of ways of reporting.

Of course, the right thing to do

was to report it to their manager.

If they feel unable to do so,

people are able to report

it to the trade union.

There is a confidential

whistle-blowing service

provided by the operator.

People can report any safety

concerns, and so we say

to all of the staff,

if there's anything that concerns

you about safety on the network,

you can report it without fear.

You can report it confidentially

if you wish to, and it's my job

to make sure that those reports

are acted on immediately

and we satisfy ourselves that

safety is paramount.

TfL's Leon Daniels

speaking to our Political

Editor, Tim Donovan.

In other news, the Mayor of London

says he has no interest in becoming

the next leader of the Labour Party

or Britain's first

Muslim Prime Minister.

Sadiq Khan was speaking ahead

of a meeting with Pakistan's Prime

Minister in Islamabad.

From there, our Political

Correspondent, Karl Mercer,

sent this report.

It's the sort of reception leaders

of countries usually get.

The highest of security,

the best of welcomes.

Pakistan's leading politicians

opened their doors to the Mayor,

if not entirely to the

chasing British press.

Today, for Sadiq Khan, a meeting

with Pakistan's Prime Minister.

It's an honour many visiting British

ministers haven't even been given.

I'm very proud that

you are the Mayor.

They call these grip and grins,

it's what politicians do a lot of.

This, the commerce minister...

This man, Pakistan's

Foreign Secretary.

Could you help us understand how

it is that the mayor of a humble

city in the United Kingdom gets

to meet such high-ranking officials

in Pakistan such as yourself,

and later the Prime Minister?

It's an honour for me that

Mr Sadiq Khan has been

the Mayor of London,

it's a matter of pride for us,

a great honour for us.

And we are proud of the values

and traditions of British people

that a person from the subcontinent

of Pakistani regions

could rise to that level.

When Boris Johnson travelled

the world when he was mayor,

people criticised him.

They said he was putting his

own political ambitions

ahead of those of London.

So what about this man?

Here, in the ambassador's garden,

meeting and greeting

dignitaries from overseas.

Are you saying you don't have

those grander ambitions?

Let me be quite clear.

I love being the mayor, I think I've

got the best job in the world.

I've no intention of being whatever

Boris Johnson wanted to be.

You don't even want to be

the leader of your party?

I do not want to be leader

of the Labour Party.

Ever?

Ever.

You don't want to be Prime Minister?

I do not want to be Prime Minister.

Ever?

I think I've got a great job.

Ever.

I've got a great job

as the Mayor of London.

I get to help the city that

I was born and raised in, and love,

but also I get to meet people whose

lives have been improved by some

of our policies from City Hall.

I love being the mayor of my city,

I have no intention of running

for the leader of the Labour Party,

no intention of seeking

to be the Prime Minister.

Absolutely ruling it out?

I'm ruling

it out.

Even if the ball comes free

from the back of the scrum?

If the ball comes free from the edge

of the box, and I get a chance

to shoot in the top right-hand

corner and score a glory goal,

I wouldn't do that, because I've

already got a great job.

I'm playing a different game -

I'm busy playing cricket when you're

offering me a job playing football.

For now then, he says the job

he's actually sticking

to is that of being mayor.

That's it for now from me

so I'll say goodnight,

but let's find out

what the weather's up

to with Darren Bett.

to with Darren Bett.

How is it looking? Thank you very

much. We have sunshine today

eventually after the rain. There

will be more sunshine around

tomorrow but you've probably noticed

the change already. Much colder,

although for most parts tomorrow it

should be dry. Overnight we'll have

largely clear skies. There are some

showers that are trying to come down

from the north-west. Still quite

blowy out there and it'll feel

colder. Temperatures not far away

from freezing by the morning.

Probably a bright start with some

sunshine tomorrow. For the most part

it will be a dry day with sunny

spells but there will be more cloud

at times and we could see one or two

wintry showers from the north-west.

Steered down on a brisk wind. Temp

touring 3-5 but feeling colderp

given the strength of thep wind.

Into the weekend, looking at

generally dry and sunny but cold

weather on Saturday. Briefly on

Sunday there may be snow before it

turns back to rain but the threat of

heavy rain on Monday. A lot to