Major incident simulation excercise held in Norwich in July

[mr_moo]

Back in July, a simulated major incident excercise was held to help emergency services and rail staff ensure they are better prepared, should a real event happen.

Greater Anglia have published a video about it on YT. It's unlisted, as its primary audience is people in the industry.

Greater Anglia ran the live exercise 'Operation Topham' on 9 & 10 July 2025, simulating a major incident.

On 9 July, 200 emergency service, rail and support workers descend on Norwich Crown Point depot to attend a derailed train scenario with injured passengers on board.

This video - designed for those within the rail industry, its stakeholders and external agencies, documents the set-up, events and thoughts of those involved on the emergency side of the response..

Enjoy...

 

[RUK]

Interesting to see - thank you for sharing this! Also interesting and good to see that many other TOCs were involved, to share learning - I guess it must be difficult to put something together with so many members of the emergency services and the rail industry together at the same time. I suppose they would have wanted to keep this as real and unpredictable/unknown as possible for those responding to and not involved in the planning of it, e.g. with the actors for passengers who weren’t being easy to deal with. I presume this operation might have been named after a certain Sir Topham Hatt? Were you involved in this yourself, mr_moo ? Any clues on what you’re up to now, post-Cambridge South?

 

[dk1]

I worked there at the time and this is the first I’ve heard of it.

 

[Flange Squeal]

There was a similar sounding exercise at Guildford on the South Western Railway network last July too.

Guildford: Major emergency service incident exercise under way

A major incident test will be carried out by emergency services in Guildford on Thursday.

www.bbc.co.uk

Major emergency service incident exercise under way
A major incident exercise in Guildford

Christian Fuller
BBC News, South East
Published
11 July 2024

A major incident "live-action" exercise is under way at a railway station in Surrey.

A large emergency service presence is visible near Guildford station, with about 300 responders attending to 100 incidents.

South East Coast Ambulance Service (Secamb) said the public should "be aware and not alarmed" by the drill, which is due to end at 14:30 BST on Thursday.

Sgt Olly Brown said the exercise allowed each service “to understand each other more effectively, which ultimately saves lives”.

The exercise is being conducted by partners in the Surrey Local Resilience Forum, which works to ensure the county is well prepared for emergencies.

As well as Secamb, these include Surrey Police, British Transport Police, Surrey Fire and Rescue, Network Rail, Surrey County Council, Royal Surrey County Hospital and Guildford Borough Council.
The Environment Agency, Rail Accident Investigation Branch, South Western Railway, Great Western Railway, Avanti West Coast, the Rail Delivery Group and Surrey 4x4 volunteers are also involved.

Secamb emergency preparedness, response and resilience manager Dave Nelson said: "This pre-planned exercise is an important part of us being assured of our resilience and response plans which we will review and strengthen where required after the exercise.”

 

[Trackman]

I've been on one at Man Picc with Network rail, sadly missed the Seven tunnel one.|
The emergency services, were not told of the time (but the date) of what had happened or where at Picc to make it realistic.
It was a Sunday and P1 and P2 were closed off including footbridge, we set off from P1 then shunting into the east spur sidings.
Took about three hours to complete, we had a briefing beforehand in some room I didn't know existed at Picc, and we had a free packed lunch afterwards.
It was actually a 142 and 150, I was in the 150 at the back, the 142 was empty.
The 150 had lots of OOU doors, we left by the 150 driver/guard vestibule down a ladder as they have handrails on the side.
We didn't exit by the makeshift gate, we had to walk all the way around on the ballast to P1, hence a warning about footwear beforehand and not to step on the rails/sleepers. In a real emergency, the fire service would have helped - it was just so we didn't get injured.
I am racking brains for the 'safe word sentence' in case you were really injured or needed medical help. Think it was something like 'I want to go McDonalds'

Chat GPT description:
This picture shows the aftermath of a serious accident involving a silver car and a railway vehicle.
The car has crashed into a railway buffer stop (a heavy metal structure at the end of a train track). Its front end is badly damaged and appears trapped against the yellow front of a rail maintenance vehicle or train.
Several firefighters in bright yellow helmets and fluorescent jackets are surrounding the car. They are working together at the rear, with the trunk open, possibly trying to rescue someone trapped inside. One firefighter is also inside the car through the side door.
A fire truck is visible in the background, and a few bystanders are standing behind a metal fence, watching the rescue operation. The scene is industrial, with warehouses and equipment around, giving the impression that this happened in a railway depot or yard.

Chat GPT description:
This picture shows a laminated card labeled “Casualty Number 27.”
Beneath the heading, the card states:

• Minor cuts and bruises (indicating the nature of the injuries).
• Resp rate: 16 (meaning the respiratory rate is 16 breaths per minute).Pulse rate: 96 (meaning the heart rate is 96 beats per minute).

The card is resting on what looks like someone’s denim-clad leg, suggesting it might have been placed there for identification or record-keeping during a medical response or training exercise.

 

[mr_moo]

Interesting to see - thank you for sharing this! Also interesting and good to see that many other TOCs were involved, to share learning - I guess it must be difficult to put something together with so many members of the emergency services and the rail industry together at the same time. I suppose they would have wanted to keep this as real and unpredictable/unknown as possible for those responding to and not involved in the planning of it, e.g. with the actors for passengers who weren’t being easy to deal with. I presume this operation might have been named after a certain Sir Topham Hatt? Were you involved in this yourself, mr_moo ? Any clues on what you’re up to now, post-Cambridge South?

No, I wasn't involved, fun as that would have been!
This was shared widely with NR so I wanted to share here.

I've moved South now. I've joined a different new station project, although that station is much bigger and much more complex, and will initially have 14 platforms, not 4...
More on that to come later. I can't share much about what I'm currently doing yet.

There was some talk of doing one of these exercises on one of the out of use platforms at Cambridge South before opening, but that never went anywhere. would have been fun though.

 

[swt_passenger]

I've moved South now. I've joined a different new station project, although that station is much bigger and much more complex, and will initially have 14 platforms, not 4...

That size station’s not very common…

 

[Paul AC]

I am racking brains for the 'safe word sentence' in case you were really injured or needed medical help. Think it was something like 'I want to go McDonalds'

On an emergency exercise I took part in many years ago it was simply "real casualty".

 

[Trackman]

On an emergency exercise I took part in many years ago it was simply "real casualty".

Saw an aircraft one on TV, it was 'Coca-Cola, the real thing'

 

[Acey]

Took part in one of these at Grove Park Depot back in the nineties( I think ) was an interesting experience ,all the usual emergency services played a part in the rail crash scenario ! The actors playing the part of casualties were very realistic ,it was all a bit ad-hoc and somewhat chaotic and I played the role of a train-driver ( well it was my job ) and thought it was highly amusing when the police ( Met or BT can't remember which ) decided to arrest me on suspicion of being over the limit and subsequently bunged me in squad car and drove out of the depot ,I started to get a bit alarmed by then !
All the subsequent reviews etc were quite informing ,mainly because there didn't seem to be much of initial plan of action ,still I suppose that's what the exercise was for,learn from mistakes !

 

[MalaiseForever]

I’m doing one tomorrow in Birmingham, should be interesting.

 

[Acey]

I’m doing one tomorrow in Birmingham, should be interesting.

Good luck,what I thought was no one took it seriously , or so it seemed to me !

 

[hatifhafi3]

Took part in one of these at Grove Park Depot back in the nineties( I think ) was an interesting experience ,all the usual emergency services played a part in the rail crash scenario ! The actors playing the part of casualties were very realistic ,it was all a bit ad-hoc and somewhat chaotic and I played the role of a train-driver ( well it was my job ) and thought it was highly amusing when the police ( Met or BT can't remember which ) decided to arrest me on suspicion of being over the limit and subsequently bunged me in squad car and drove out of the depot ,I started to get a bit alarmed by then !
All the subsequent reviews etc were quite informing ,mainly because there didn't seem to be much of initial plan of action ,still I suppose that's what the exercise was for,learn from mistakes !

That sounds like quite an experience! It’s interesting how those large-scale exercises can feel a bit chaotic in the moment, but as you said, that’s exactly the point — to spot the gaps and figure out how different services coordinate under pressure. The bit about being “arrested” made me laugh, though I can see why it started to feel a bit too real once you were carted off site! Those casualty actors really do add to the realism, don’t they? I imagine for you, being a driver, it must have been eye-opening to see how the scenario unfolded from both the operational and emergency response sides.

 

[nineteenninety]

I was involved in one of these last year with the armed police in a hostage situation on board one of the trains at our depot. Was a rather exhilarating experience tbh!

 

[185143]

That sounds like quite an experience! It’s interesting how those large-scale exercises can feel a bit chaotic in the moment, but as you said, that’s exactly the point — to spot the gaps and figure out how different services coordinate under pressure. The bit about being “arrested” made me laugh, though I can see why it started to feel a bit too real once you were carted off site! Those casualty actors really do add to the realism, don’t they? I imagine for you, being a driver, it must have been eye-opening to see how the scenario unfolded from both the operational and emergency response sides.

I do hope the OP was promptly de-"arrested" once taken off site!

 

[Acey]

I do hope the OP was promptly de-"arrested" once taken off site!

Of course after a caution actually it was quite horrible to think this could happen for real ( has ) to less disciplined folk ,I can recall a driver being marched out of the depot after being after "over the limit " after a depot derailment ,a well liked and otherwise thoroughly nice chap ,mixed emotions all round !

 

[MalaiseForever]

Good luck,what I thought was no one took it seriously , or so it seemed to me !

Last time I played a blind man - which I found harder than you might expect!

 

[WirralLine]

We watched a training video on one during my conductor course which was filmed by Arriva Trains Wales using a 150 in a tunnel. It was quite insightful to see I thought!

 

[Travelmonkey]

It is good to see on the ground training for all stakeholders. I know I'd deffinatley love to be a casulty in one of these.

 

[mr_moo]

That size station’s not very common…

Indeed! What I'm doing will likely be in the press in a couple of months so I look forward to reporting more here later...

 

[MalaiseForever]

Deleted

 

[LAX54]

I worked there at the time and this is the first I’ve heard of it.

Remember the one years (and years) ago at Reedham Jct ? in the siding at the back of the box, all went well, until the 31 didnt see the signal was 'on' and promptly derailed, needing a real 'rescue' to rerail it !

 

[mr_moo]

Remember the one years (and years) ago at Reedham Jct ? in the siding at the back of the box, all went well, until the 31 didnt see the signal was 'on' and promptly derailed, needing a real 'rescue' to rerail it !

Oops! It does make me wonder how often 'real' emergencies within simulated ones are.

 

[dk1]

Remember the one years (and years) ago at Reedham Jct ? in the siding at the back of the box, all went well, until the 31 didnt see the signal was 'on' and promptly derailed, needing a real 'rescue' to rerail it !

Oh dear mate. I seem to remember something about that. They didn’t make such a drama out of a trivial derailment back in the day. It’s a major drama in itself now