Rail officials are investigating whether a computerized warning system was switched off when a passenger train plowed into a freight train, killing six passengers, track operators said Sunday.
The question of whether the safety mechanism, which slams on brakes in an emergency, was operating is “fundamental” to the inquiry into Friday’s accident, said Andy Hancock, acting director of Railtrack, which operates the rail lines.
Hancock refused to confirm or deny newspaper reports that the system, known as the Advanced Warning System, was switched off because Great Western, the train operator, and Railtrack considered it unreliable.
The system is fitted to most high-speed trains in Germany and France, and after the Clapham Junction rail disaster in 1988, in which 35 people were killed, state-owned British Rail said it would increase its use in this country. British Rail, however, subsequently was broken up into privately-owned companies.
