Passengers on board a runaway tram that narrowly avoided a catastrophic accident say they are still awaiting an apology nearly 20 months on.

And they say the publication of an accident investigation report raises questions about why services were not suspended straight away.

A Health and Safety at Work Inspectorate report, released last week following a Freedom of Information request from Isle of Man Newspapers, catalogues a series of a failings that led to a Snaefell tram careering 1.4km out of control down the mountain when its main brakes failed on August 4, 2017.

There were 48 passengers and two crew on board the tram which reached a speed of 44mph over the Bungalow road crossing before it was brought to a halt with the manual fell brake.

Services were only suspended more than seven weeks later, on September 25.

The line will run again from today (Tuesday) with new fail safe brakes fitted to two of the trams.

A passenger on the tram, Nick Douglas, said from his home in Belfast: ’It is depressing to read that the trams were allowed to get into such a dreadful state of repair.

’The Health and Safety at Work Inspectorate have been most assiduous in compiling their report.

’Some of the revelations they make point to a scandalous lack of care in maintenance. The management should answer why they thought it acceptable to run these clearly dangerous trams. I admire these trams and they are fun to look at but I shan’t be riding one again until all the faults in the report are publicly attended to.’

Nick’s wife Tricia said: ’The report of the tram disaster is thorough and will hopefully help to bring some closure to the dreadful experience. My fellow tram passengers will not be able to forget the outright fear that we were about to lose our lives along with our family members.

’I would dearly wish the staff will, in future, be better trained to deal with situations on a more human level. A kind word, a cup of tea, a notion that anyone had noticed or cared that a truly catastrophic event had narrowly been avoided would have helped. Our memory is lasting of the neglect of our emotional welfare.’

Another passenger on board that day, Karen Taylor, said: ’This is a terrifying report about a terrifying incident.

’What happened on August 4, 2017, was no accident. It was the inevitable result of failings detailed in the report. Fifty men, women and children nearly lost their lives.

’The consequence of the report must be change and I welcome the fitting of fail to safe brakes which must be completed before the start of the 2019 season.

’We have still not received a proper apology from the department.

’The witness statements in the report are harrowing and I can only hope that they have been read and result in a formal written apology.

’I would also like to thank again the motorman, brakeman and passenger for their courage and sheer determination in stopping the tram.’

Victoria Spear said: ’Now that liability has been established, I look forward to receiving the long overdue apology for the endured stress and near loss of life.’

A passenger, who wished to remain anonymous, said: ’The reports are chilling: it confirms how close the incident came to a disastrous loss of life; and the catalogue of contributory failings is staggering.

’The reports understandably cover the direct causes of the incident in a lot of detail - the switch and braking systems.

’This takes attention away from wider issues: complete failures in controls (in broad sense); training; maintenance; record keeping; and management oversight.

’It is particularly worrying that improvements agreed following the crashed tram a year earlier had already fallen away (if they were ever implemented).

’Finally the scope of the report seemingly does not extend to the decision to continue to run the trams before a full investigation could be completed. It’s now clear from the breadth of findings in the report that operating the service (and putting lives at risk) was irresponsible.

’It’s inconceivable that a rail franchise in the UK would be allowed to continue to operate against the backdrop set out in the report - and trains there don’t point down 1 in 12 slopes.’