Train hits buffers at rail station

Passengers on the Virgin train escaped injury

An investigation is under way after a passenger train smashed into buffers at Liverpool's Lime Street station.

No-one was injured in the incident but the driver of the Virgin Cross Country train was left badly shaken.

The train is thought to have been travelling at about 4 mph when it hit the platform buffers, pushing them back by about six feet.

It is estimated that 100 passengers were on the train, which had travelled from Reading.

Buffers collapsed

An investigation by Railtrack, Virgin Trains and the Health and Safety Executive is now under way.

A spokesman for Railtrack said: "The buffers are hydraulic and designed to collapse on impact.

"The driver will be interviewed and the investigation will look at the brakes on the train, signalling and whether there was anything on the track at the time."

Disruption at the station was kept to a minimum.

The 0913 BST Liverpool to Plymouth service, which would have used the train involved in the incident, was cancelled.