Catalogue of Errors

More than 130 serious collisions or derailments have occurred since the privatisation of Railtrack in the spring of 1996, including three major incidents:

t On 8 August 1996 a train at Watford overran a signal and hit another head on, killing one person and injuring 73. The driver, Peter Afford, who was later cleared of manslaughter, admitted at his trial he had passed three warning lights.

t On 4 February 1997 an overloaded freight train derailed over a viaduct and plunged down an embankment in Bexley, London, injuring four workmen close to the line. An inquiry blamed management failures and errors by Railtrack.

t On 19 September 1997 a 125mph inter-city and a freight train collided at Southall, west London, killing seven people and injuring 180.