Rail chiefs refused new signals near fatal crash site

 Rail chiefs overruled a safety recommendation to install extra signals near the site of the fatal train crash in Bedford, The Telegraph can disclose.

Network Rail was allowed to ignore a request to add extra signalling lights at key locations on the Midland Main Line, after bosses successfully argued that this would be “disproportionate”.

Shaun Burton, 60, died when when the East Midlands Railway train he was driving hit the back of a stationary train run by the same operator near Bedford South Junction on June 19. Some 162 passengers from both trains were injured. Many were airlifted to hospital because of the severity of their injuries.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said in an interim update last week that the collision happened after Burton’s train passed through a red signal.

It raises questions about whether the crash could have been avoided if more signals were in place. However, a Network Rail source insisted that it would be “speculative” to draw any conclusions ahead of the final RAIB report.

A formal letter issued to Network Rail in January 2013 by the Rail Safety Standards Board (RSSB) said that to comply with modern safety standards, an “additional signal section” – meaning an extra signal light – needed to be installed on the “Up Fast approach to Bedford South Junction”.

But Network Rail told the RSSB it opposed this, leading the safety body to conclude: “Such changes would be substantial and disproportionate to the benefits offered.”

Investigators are continuing their work to understand what happened at Bedford South, which is the first rear-end collision to cause a death on a British railway line this century.

Of particular interest is the “black box” fitted to the front end of Burton’s train, a Class 360 electric unit. Investigators were unable to download data from this before issuing a public update last week about the sequence of events.

In that update, RAIB said Burton’s train had crossed Bedford South Junction before passing through a red signal. The train then accelerated to 76mph before the brakes were applied, nine seconds before impact at 49mph.

RAIB confirmed to The Telegraph that a safety system which would have automatically applied the brakes on Burton’s train was not fitted to the red signal that it passed through.

Rail sources have said that the system, called Train Protection Warning System (TPWS), is typically not installed on sections of straight track after junctions.

TPWS is mainly used for stopping trains from overrunning red signals and crossing on to junctions where another train might be crossing at the same time, the sources said.

The stretch of track where the collision happened was reopened to trains on Friday, after being closed for a week to allow investigators to gather evidence and for the two damaged trains to be removed. A normal service is expected to run on Monday morning.

A Network Rail spokesman said: “Following the publication of the investigation update from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, we are fully committed to working as an industry to support the continuing investigation to understand exactly what happened.

“As the investigation is ongoing, it would be inappropriate for us, or anyone else, to comment on specific findings or speculate about the circumstances surrounding the accident before all evidence has been examined.”