UK News 09-10-1999 Interim Report Says Safety Features Failed who: Government investigators what: Revealed that "virtually every safety system failed..." where: PADDINGTON when: Yesterday snippet: In The Express, John Ingham describes the events that led up to the crash as a "shambles". An interim report by Government investigators revealed that "virtually every safety system failed. Warning signals, red lights, points, a one-way system ... not one succeeded in preventing the carnage." The government`s report reveals that "the Thames Turbo train ignored three warnings, jumped a red light and ran head-on into the InterCity express on a stretch of line exclusively reserved for London-bound trains. Experts say this is the equivalent of driving the wrong way up the fast lane of a motorway." Vic Coleman, chief inspector of railways, "last night named a further 21 signal `blackspots` in Britain," reports The Guardian. Mr Coleman`s interim report into Tuesday`s disaster says: "Our belief is that it is a systems failure and that any action or ommission on the part of the driver was only one factor." "The speed of the Great Western express meant the crash happened almost simultaneously with any warning," says The Mirror. "But the Train Protection Warning System (TPWS), due to be introduced by 2004, would have prevented the catastrophe. It would have triggered brakes after the train failed to stop at the signal." [... more]

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