AN INVESTIGATION has been launched after a tram, with 20 passengers on board, derailed on the Tramlink Network.
The tram, from New Addington to Wimbledon, was travelling at about 7mph when it derailed near Mitcham Junction shortly before midnight on December 29.
The 20 passengers on board and the driver were unhurt.
The Rail Accident Investigation Bureau (RAIB), which independently investigates rail accidents in the UK, said the tram had derailed while travelling over points.
A statement on the bureau's website said: "On leaving the tram stop, the tram driver noticed that an indicator, which shows the position of these points, was indicating that the points were not correctly set.
"He stopped the tram before reaching the points, and after speaking to the tramway control room by radio, he left the tram and used an operating lever to manually move the points until he observed that the indicator was showing that they were correctly set.
"He then drove the tram slowly over the points, but the centre bogie and one wheelset of the trailing bogie became derailed."
The RAIB said the findings would be released when the investigation is complete.
