Crash team investigates broken track

A possible broken rail has become the focus of attention today as investigators try to find the cause of the Hatfield train crash.

A possible broken rail has become the focus of attention today as investigators try to find the cause of the Hatfield train crash.

Railtrack has said that a broken rail could have been the cause of yesterday's accident and has applied speed restrictions to all its similar tracks.

Railtrack director Nicholas Pollard said: "We will be investigating the possibility that a broken rail could have been a factor. If that is the case then we must establish clearly why that rail appears to have broken."

GNER's chief executive, Christopher Garnett, said: "We managed to get down to the track side last night and as far as anyone could see the wheels were not broken. I know there has been a lot of speculation about that."

Terrorism has been ruled out as a possible cause of the accident and British Transport Police are continuing their fingertip search of the crash site.

"We do not believe at this stage there is anything wrong with the train. "

Railtrack's director of safety, Chris Lear, said: "There are a lot of theories and there is a lot of speculation. I think we should really wait until we have finished our investigation to come up with the real causes."

Rail travellers are facing further delays due to the speed restrictions. The routes most likely to be affected are the East Coast Main Line from Londonÿs Kingÿs Cross to Leeds and Edinburgh, The Great Western Line from Paddington to Cardiff and Bristol, and the West Coast Main Line from London to Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow.