Number of trains passing danger signals rises by 61%

The number of trains passing red signals has jumped by 61 per cent, official figures released on Friday show.

The number of trains passing red signals has jumped by 61 per cent, official figures released on Friday show.

Safety inspectors warned the improvements that followed the 1999 Paddington rail disaster had ceased and there were "clear signs" the situation was deteriorating. Trains passing signals set at danger accounted for 31 deaths at Paddington and seven in the Southall crash two years earlier.

The Rail Passengers' Council on Friday warned that while interim measures to prevent trains passing red lights were on schedule, the Government had not yet fully committed to the introduction of the fail-safe Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system.

Council officials pointed out that while ministers had said the recommendations of the Cullen-Uff report into train protection would be implemented in full, they had been silent since the publication of the document. The report called for the introduction of the European Rail Traffic Management System ­ the most sophisticated form of ATP ­ by 2010.

Stewart Francis, chairman of the passengers' council, said APT should have been introduced years ago, but successive governments had baulked at the multi-billion pound cost.

on Friday the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) revealed there were 50 cases of signals passed at danger (SPADs) in July 2001, compared with 31 in July 2000. The figure took the number of SPADs in the May-July 2001 period to 139 ­ well ahead of the 113 figure for May-July 2000.

Executive officials said the figures were still well below the levels seen before the big "anti-SPADs" measures taken after the Paddington rail crash in which a First Great Western express on its way into London passed a red light and smashed into a freight train. But it added the improvement had stopped and there were now "clear signs of a slight worsening from the best levels achieved".

The executive said that of the 50 SPADs in July 2001, 16 were serious compared with 14 in July 2000. Officials pointed out that while the figure was 19 more than in July 2000, it was three fewer than the average figure for that month over the past six years.

The HSE report said 28 SPADs were at signals with a previous history of problems. It also listed the train companies which needed to take "prompt remedial action" about SPADs: Arriva Trains Northern, London Underground, ScotRail, Wales and West, Connex South East, South West Trains, Virgin CrossCountry, Virgin West Coast and West Anglia Great Northern.