Weather hampers access to crashed train » Communities » 24dash.com

Weather conditions and access problems are hampering efforts to move the train from the site of the Cumbrian rail tragedy, officials said today.

Heavy lifting equipment needs to be moved onto the site which is only accessed via narrow rural roads.

Rain overnight has also caused the scene of the accident to become very muddy underfoot.

A spokesman for British Transport Police said workers would be preparing the site today for the bulky lifting equipment to move in.

He said: "We are continuing to co-ordinate the investigation into the derailment on Friday evening.

"Working in partnership with the Rail Accident and Investigation Branch (RAIB) and Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate (HMRI), this is an extremely methodical and technical process that is likely to continue for a number of days.

"Today, detailed forensic examinations will take place on the whole scene.

"Access to the scene remains complicated due to the isolated location and weather conditions. Today work will begin to prepare site for heavy lifting equipment to access the scene. At this stage we can't say exactly when that lifting equipment will be on site."

Across the country safety experts were urgently checking hundreds of sets of points.

Up to 700 set of points are being checked as a "precaution" following the crash.

The move came after faulty points emerged as the likely cause of the latest crash which comes five years after defective points caused Britain's last major rail disaster at Potters Bar.

The points, which the investigation is focusing on, are used only when maintenance is being done so trains can switch tracks to facilitate the work.

The joint investigation by British Transport Police, Network Rail and the Rail Accident Investigation Boards is expected to continue for several days to discover how the Virgin Trains Pendolino derailed while travelling at 90mph.

One passenger, Margaret Masson, 84, from Glasgow, was killed and dozens more injured - 11 seriously - as the train rolled down an embankment near Kendal, Cumbria.

Police said it was "little short of a miracle" that more did not die.

Among those seriously injured were Mrs Masson's daughter Margaret Langley, 61, and her husband Richard, 63, of Southport, Merseyside, who were in the same carriage.

Margaret Jones, 41, the daughter of Mr and Mrs Langley, said the family was "distraught" about the tragedy. Her parents are in a "very serious condition" at the Royal Preston Hospital.

"We are devastated by the death of our nan and about mum and dad being so very poorly," Mrs Jones said.

"We are distraught but we are all here for our parents and we ask that we are left alone to cope during this difficult time."

Also seriously injured was train driver Ian Black who has been praised as a hero by Virgin trains chairman Sir Richard Branson.

Speaking during a visit to the crash site yesterday, Mr Branson said: "The driver Ian Black came around the corner, the line was defective and the train went off the line.

"But he has carried on sitting in his carriage for half a mile running the train on the stone. He could have tried to get back and protect himself but he didn't and he has ended up quite badly injured.

"He is a definitely a hero. In the sober light of day we will have to see if he can be recognised as such."

A spokesman for the train drivers union Aslef said Mr Black was a "reluctant hero".

The train driver, who has a broken collar bone and a broken bone in his neck, is expected to remain in hospital for at least a month.

More than 70 people were hurt in the crash, most suffering minor cuts and bruises. Eleven people remain in three hospitals across the region with serious injuries to the head, neck and spine.

The 17.15 London to Glasgow train had just passed Kendal and was in isolated countryside near the village of Grayrigg when it derailed around 8pm on Friday.

A Casualty Bureau has been established by Cumbria Constabulary for anyone wanting information about relatives who may have been on the train. The telephone number is 0800 056 0146 or from outside the UK 020 7158 0198.

Shadow chancellor George Osborne, who uses the service every week to get to his constituency in Tatton, Cheshire said: "All one's thoughts are with the family of the lady who died, but also the passengers who must have gone through a living hell when that crash happened."

He told Sky News: "Obviously they are checking the points. There is a mismatch between the management of the rail network, the track itself anf the rail companies like Virgin.

"One of the things the Conservative Party is looking at, and we are not directly relating this to this accident at all, I am making a broader observation.

"We are looking at whether in the future there should be a much closer link between the people who own the track and the people who run the trains."

Colleagues of the train driver Ian Black are expected to visit him in hospital later today.

Mr Black, 46, is from Glasgow and has been a train driver for seven years.

Before that he was a British transport police officer based in Glasgow.

It is believed he has never been involved in any accidents or incidents since becoming a train driver.

Copyright Press Association 2007