Warning over seatbelts on trains

The Ufton Nervet crash prompted a father's campaign for belts

Airline-style seatbelts on trains could cause more injuries to passengers than they prevent, rail experts have said.

The Rail Safety and Standards Board has recommended against installing the belts, but said it was still running tests on car-style seatbelts.

It analysed crashes where passengers were thrown from carriages, concluding tougher windows would improve safety.

The research has been criticised by survivors of recent crashes, but welcomed by passenger groups.

'Safety advantages'

The Rail Safety and Standards Board's (RSSB) policy and strategic initiatives director, Aidan Nelson, said its research had been "very thorough".

Because [passengers] can't move or be pushed out of the way, they are more likely to be injured Tom Symonds BBC correspondent

"The conclusions are that lap belts would, in the majority of situations, increase passenger injuries in a crash situation.

"But fitting glass to an optimised specification, where window replacement is justified, will bring additional safety advantages."

John Cartledge, safety adviser for the Rail Passengers Council, welcomed the continued research into seatbelt effectiveness.

But he warned there were no easy solutions, saying the research "demonstrates the dangers of making simplistic comparisons between different modes of transport".

BBC transport correspondent Tom Symonds said the board had decided that holding passengers in their seats left them vulnerable when the structure of a train carriage collapses.

"Because they can't move or be pushed out of the way, they are more likely to be injured," he said.

'People were burning'

Ladbroke Grove crash survivor Colin Paton said he believed tougher glass would make it harder to rescue people trapped inside a train and labelled the plans "crazy".

Mr Paton, 60, was the guard on a Great Western Train on 5 October, 1999, when it was struck by a Thames Train that had gone through a red signal.

Thirty-one people died in the crash near Paddington Station, west London.

[Strengthening windows] would be like putting the people in an oven Colin Paton Ladbroke Grove survivor

He told the Press Association news agency: "On the day of our crash, I was outside my train trying to break in the Thames train that crashed into us.

"There was no guard on the train, the driver was dead and people were burning inside and I couldn't break into the train.

"If they strengthen the windows it would be crazy, it would be like putting the people in an oven."

An RSSB spokeswoman said the recommendation called for laminate glass windows - which have been fitted in all new trains since 1993 - to be put into all new and refurbished rolling stock.

She insisted it was only a recommendation and the final decision was up to the train companies.

Calls for belts in trains have been led by families bereaved after several recent rail accidents.

Devon man Peter Webster, whose 14-year-old daughter Emily died when a train hit a car on a level crossing in Ufton Nervet in Berkshire last year, has petitioned 10 Downing Street on the issue.