Great Heck Rail Crash - Aftermath

Aftermath

Hart was tried on ten counts of causing death by dangerous driving. On 13 December 2001 he was found guilty, and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. He was released after serving half his sentence, for cooperation.

Campaigners have drawn attention to what they claim is the inadequate length of the crash barriers alongside the road. According to the Health and Safety Executive's final report, the Land Rover had left the road some 24 metres before the barrier started, and had easily broken through the simple wooden fence that lined the track. A 2003 Highways Agency review of crash barriers on bridges over railways concluded that only three bridges nationwide were in need of upgrading. The bridge at Great Heck was not one of them. By October 2003 Hart's insurers had paid out over £22 million. Gary Hart's insurers, through Hart's name, attempted to sue the Department for Transport for a contribution to the damages they were liable to pay to GNER and the victims, on the grounds that the safety barrier was inadequate, but the case was dismissed.

66526 has since been named "Driver Steve Dunn (George)", in memory of the Freightliner driver killed in the accident. It carries a plaque commemorating the accident - "In remembrance of a dedicated engineman Driver Steve (George) Dunn tragically killed in the accident at Great Heck on 28th February 2001". In August 2009, the BBC News website reported that Dunn's son James - who was only nine at the time of the crash - was training to become a train driver and follow his father into the same trade. Reports about the tenth anniversary confirm that James Dunn is indeed now a driver like his father.

The DVT involved was written off and scrapped, having sustained heavy damage in the incident.