Inspectors examine two runaway freight wagons on Manx Electric Railway

The Health and Safety at Work Inspectorate is looking into two incidents in which vehicles ran away on the Manx Electric Railway, the Department of Infrastructure has confirmed.

The department said neither case involved a tram carrying passengers, Isle of Man Today reported. Both concerned small freight wagons, and no injuries resulted.

The incidents came to light after a Freedom of Information request asked how many runaways the line had recorded from 1 January 2025 to 1 September this year.

The department’s answer, released on 2 October, put the figure at two.

When Media IoM sought more detail, a department spokesperson said a third party had been operating one of the two wagons.

“Both incidents were reported in accordance with regulatory requirements and remain under investigation by the Health and Safety at Work Inspectorate,” the spokesperson said.

The department added that it was limited in what more it could say, because “providing further details, commenting on the incidents or discussing potential outcomes may prejudice the ongoing investigations.”

According to Isle of Man Today, the island’s heritage railways have largely had a sound safety record in recent years, though a handful of earlier episodes drew close attention:

• March 2016: With nobody on board, a vintage Snaefell Mountain Railway tram rolled away from the summit station, came off the rails at Bungalow and was wrecked. Investigators found that both of its parking brakes had failed.
• August 2017: Brake failure left a Snaefell tram out of control for 1,400m of its descent, during which it hit 44mph and the crew warned passengers to prepare for a derailment. A subsequent report credited the crew’s handling of the manual brake, and their action to make sure the signals at the Bungalow level crossing were triggered, with preventing far more serious consequences. The Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture released that report only after Isle of Man Newspapers pursued it under Freedom of Information, a process lasting more than three months that required the Chief Minister to step in.
• July 2021: An open “toast-rack” tramcar running a timetabled Manx Electric Railway service derailed between Dreemskerry Farm and Lewaigue with 12 passengers aboard. A passenger sitting on the side of the driver’s bench furthest from the sea was flung from the car, suffering a broken leg and bruises; no other passengers or staff were hurt. Investigators ruled out speed as a factor, and the derailment report pointed to weaknesses in how the line was maintained. The Department of Infrastructure was later ordered to pay £18,000 over the safety breaches.

The Department of Infrastructure operates the Manx Electric Railway from Derby Castle depot in Douglas.