Key findings
- Northern Rail was a Category 2 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.
- Staff from Northern Rail went to the aid of those who had been affected by the explosion. They did their best to help.
- There were no stretchers available to Northern Rail staff in the Manchester Victoria Railway Station.
- Staff from Northern Rail carried large NHS first aid bags from Manchester Victoria Railway Station onto the raised walkway and into the City Room.
Introduction
Manchester Victoria Railway Station was operated, managed and controlled by Northern Rail. Northern Rail held the lease as tenant and was the Station Facility Operator.293
Network Rail retained responsibility for the operational railway network and responding to accidents, incidents and other emergencies to the extent that they affected the operation of the railway network. Network Rail also managed the infrastructure.294
Network Rail and Northern Rail were Category 2 responders under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.295 At the time of the Attack, the evacuation procedures at Manchester Victoria were governed by Northern Rail’s Emergency Evacuation Plan. Station security was governed by Northern Rail’s Station Security Plan.296
Northern Rail staff attended the City Room following the explosion and were actively involved in assisting casualties.297 They did their best to help those affected.
Emergency responders used equipment located at Manchester Victoria Railway Station on 22nd May 2017.298 At the time of the Attack, there were no stretchers in the railway station part of the Victoria Exchange Complex.299
Response by staff
Owen Sanderson was the Northern Rail Station Supervisor on the night of 22nd May 2017.300 He was the on‑duty Team Leader and Bronze on site.301 This meant that he was responsible for managing the operational response by Northern Rail staff to an incident. He heard the noise of the explosion and heard something on the Arena radio about an explosion. Instinctively, he activated the station alarm.302
At 22:38, Owen Sanderson spoke to Police Constable (PC) Carl Roach of BTP on the station concourse. Other members of station staff, including Barry Chaudry, were also present.303 PC Roach asked Owen Sanderson to fetch all the station’s first aid equipment.304
Northern Rail Train Dispatcher Stuart Craig was on the station concourse when he heard the explosion and saw a flash.305 He realised a bomb had gone off. He began to help direct people from the station. Owen Sanderson told him to get a first aid kit and defibrillator.306
At 22:39, Stuart Craig carried medical equipment into the City Room via the raised walkway.307 Once in the City Room, he put the equipment down and sought to help the injured.308 He assisted in the evacuation of John Atkinson from the City Room.309
By 22:40, Owen Sanderson and a Northern Rail colleague each had a large NHS first aid bag on the station concourse.310 This is shown in Figure 39.
Figure 39: Northern Rail staff with large NHS first aid bags311
With the help of STM employee Steven Hawksworth, they carried these bags up the staircase to the raised walkway.312
Once on the raised walkway, Owen Sanderson and Steven Hawksworth carried one bag between them to the City Room. Barry Chaudry stopped on the raised walkway with the bag he was carrying to tend to a casualty.313
Owen Sanderson had undertaken a basic first aid at work refresher course not long before the Attack.314 On the night, he spoke to a number of the injured, seeking to reassure them.315
Other Northern Rail staff who have been identified as helping in the response to the Attack include Andrew Lowe, Luke Westall, Ian Johnson and Matthew Greenhalgh.316