Track changes rejected before crash

Paddington crash signal was cause of numerous complaints

A senior Railtrack engineer who recommended radical changes to the track layout at Paddington before last year's fatal crash is set to give evidence to the inquiry into the disaster.

Signal development engineer Colin Bray had urged managers two years before the accident to make changes to the section of track where the collision occurred.

The plan was rejected by Railtrack officials on financial grounds, but if it had been adopted, the accident would almost certainly have been prevented.

Thirty one people were killed and 227 injured last October when a Thames train passed a red light and collided with a Great Western train outside Paddington station in London.

Signal 109

Mr Bray's plans to change the track layout were intended to reduce the number of trains passing signals at danger in the area.

He suggested that certain lines of track should be made passable only in one direction.

The busy area of track around Paddington was a notorious hotspot prior to the accident, and Railtrack was aware that trains frequently ran through red signals on approach to and departure from the station.

In particular, there had been numerous complaints before the crash about visibility problems with signal 109, which was the light that Michael Hodder, the driver of the Thames Train, passed before colliding with a Great Western Express train coming the other way.

Signal 109 had featured in eight incidents in the six years prior to the crash, but no action had been taken.

Plans "unworkable"

It has emerged that Railtrack rejected Mr Bray's proposals two years ago on the basis that they would make Paddington station "unworkable at certain times of the day".

Managers also claimed that the reduction in capacity that the changes would create would have had a financial impact.

The barrister for the inquiry, Robert Owen, has said that this decision clearly illustrates a conflict between safety and commercial considerations.

The inquiry into the Paddington crash began in May, and is chaired by the judge Lord Cullen.

Its role is to try to establish the cause of the crash, but will also make recommendations about safety technology on railways in the light of its findings.