We are deeply saddened by news of the death of a long time PACTS member, Professor Andrew Evans. While in academic roles at UCL and then Imperial, Andrew led PACTS Rail Safety Working Party for several years. We pay tribute to his significant contribution to improving transport safety.
Biography provided by John Cartledge
Andrew was a statistician by profession, specialising in transport accident data. He was a professor first at UCL and latterly at Imperial College. His work on comparative European rail safety data is still widely cited, not least by the EU Agency for Railways.
Professor Andrew Evans was a Senior Research Investigator and Emeritus Professor (previously Lloyds Register Professor) of Transport Risk Management in the Centre for Transport Studies at Imperial College London. Before that he was Professor of Transport Safety at University College London. Andrew is an economist and statistician by background. His research interests include both public transport and road safety, principally risk estimation, risk appraisal, the economics of safety, and safety regulation. He gave important evidence to the Cullen and Uff rail accident inquiries and was a member of the Risk Assessment Group for the second Cullen inquiry. Whilst the principal focus of Andrew’s work has been railway safety, he has also made significant contributions to research in road safety, aviation safety and inter-modal comparisons. Andrew was Chairman of the Rail Safety Working Group of the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS). He was a member of the Safety Working Group of the European project Urban Guided Transport Management System (UGTMS). He was a specialist adviser to the House of Lords in 1996-97, an adviser to the Joint Inquiry into Train Protection Systems in 2000, a member of the Health and Safety Executive official committee reviewing the obstruction of railways by road vehicles in 2001, and a member of the Motorists’ Forum Working Group on Road Safety and Speed Management in 2005.
Tributes to Professor Andrew Evans
“I regard it as an immense privilege to have known Andrew as a colleague and to have come to regard him as a friend during the more than three decades that we served together as members of this group. He was invariably thoughtful, approachable and helpful, and carried his weight of learning lightly. I came to admire and respect him greatly, and it is a fitting tribute to his memory that I can say with certainty that if we all travel more safely in the course of the journeys we make today, that is in no small measure due to the legacy of Professor Andrew Evans.”
John Cartledge
“I pay tribute to his dedication to transport safety particularly working well beyond his retirement and even in declining health which is the period during which I knew him. He has left a legacy of reference work and to top it all he was a really nice person. We will miss him.”
Carolyn Griffiths, Chair, PACTS Rail Safety Working Party
“Prof Andrew Evans had a long association with Centre for Transport Studies (CTS) at Imperial College London. Whilst at UCL he was part of the teaching staff of the Intercollegiate MSc in Transport delivered for many years by the staff of UCL and the CTS at Imperial. His lectures on transport economics and transport safety were characterised by both their depth and clarity, and he was a very popular lecturer each year amongst the students for explaining difficult concepts in readily accessible manner.
When he joined Imperial, he was instrumental in founding the Transport Risk Management Centre (TRMC) at the CTS which received funding from the Lloyds Register Educational Trust in 2005. Andrew as the founding Director of the TRMC set the course for a highly successful research centre with his usual combination of rigour, integrity and utmost decency. During his time at the CTS Andrew supervised several PhD students and Research Associates, who have gone onto successful careers in their fields. And an indication of his academic rigour and the esteem in which he was held by the academic community, can be seen in his publications in the most highly rated transport safety journals well into his retirement. All this at a time when later in his life, he faced a number of personal challenges.
Andrew will be greatly missed by all those who worked with him, for the opportunities he gave to enable them build the solid foundations for their career, as well as by his colleagues who will miss a valuable friend.“
Dr Arnab Majumdar, Trustee, PACTS
“I was very sorry to hear this news. I knew Andrew from my first days at PACTS (2013). He had been diagnosed fairly recently and he had resigned as Chairman of the PACTS Rail Safety Working Party because he feared he would not be able to manage. In the event he continued to serve as a very valuable working party member throughout my 10 years at PACTS. I was always proud to publish his analysis of rail accidents in European countries.
I will remember Andrew as a kind and clever man who was rigorous in his research. He also believed staunchly in the independence of PACTS and was suspicious about industry influences!”
David Davies, Former Executive Director, PACTS
“Andrew was (like Barbara Sabey and Richard Allsop) one of those legends of road safety who I first encountered in name only on research papers at the start of my career, but was fortunate enough to encounter in person on many occasions in latter years.
Knowledgeable and enthusiastic, Andrew’s contributions to discussion always moved things forwards. His legacy will be not only his published work but also the many trains of thought he set going.”
Saul Jeavons, PACTS member
“Andrew Evans was chair of the Rail Safety Working Party during my time as Executive Director of PACTS. His knowledge of the statistics of rail safety was second to none. He was also prepared to ask the tough questions when discussions about safety took place: how much would an intervention cost? How many lives or injuries would be saved? Did the intervention offer good value for money? Or would the money be better spent improving road safety? These were important questions to ask especially in the aftermath of the Ladbroke Grove and Southall rail crashes.
His expertise was acknowledged by everyone in the industry and his reputation enabled him to chair meetings that included both industry and trade unions. He managed to establish consensus where it would have been all too easy to have arguments.”
Rob Gifford, Former Executive Director, PACTS
