Grayrigg train crash: 10 years on
84 year old Margaret Masson from Glasgow died
There is "room for improvement'' in rail safety despite it being 10 years since the last passenger death in a train crash, industry bosses have warned.
Margaret Masson, 84, from Glasgow, died.
One woman died and 89 other people were injured, including 30 seriously, when a Virgin Trains service derailed at 95mph on the West Coast Main Line in Grayrigg, Cumbria on February 23 2007.
It was Britain's last train crash involving a passenger fatality.
Ian Prosser, HM chief inspector of railways, told the Press Association: "Britain's railways are currently the safest they have ever been, but there is still room for improvement.
"It has been 10 years since there has been a train accident that was fatal to passengers or staff and last year was the first year ever in Britain without a railway worker losing their life.
"It has been 10 years since there has been a train accident that was fatal to passengers or staff and last year was the first year ever in Britain without a railway worker losing their life." - HM Chief Inspector of Railways
"That said, as the recent tram incident at Croydon has shown, there is no room for complacency on safety.''
In 2007, the 300-tonne Pendolino train from London to Glasgow came off the tracks at Grayrigg due to a badly maintained and faulty set of points.
He said rail regulator the Office of Rail and Road will continue to push the industry to strive for excellence'' in health and safety management.
Eight of the nine carriages fell down an embankment, with five turning onto their sides.
Passenger Margaret Masson, 84, from Glasgow, died.
Network Rail, the firm responsible for the upkeep of the railways, accepted it was at fault and was fined £4 million over safety failures.
THE DRIVER
The man driving the train which derailed at Grayrigg was hailed a hero by Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson.
Iain Black from Dumbarton, West Dunbartonshire, stayed at the controls as the train careered off the rails and down a steep embankment.
Despite suffering a broken neck he made a mobile phone call to his girlfriend, a manager with Virgin Trains, to stop all other trains on the line.
The day after the crash, Sir Richard visited the scene and said "he is definitely a hero''.
He went on: "In the sober light of day we will have to see if he can be recognised as such.
"The driver 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.''
Mr Black said the train was like a "violent bucking bronco''.
In June 2015 he was given a special contribution honour at the Scottish Transport Awards a month after retiring from Virgin Trains.
THE HISTORY
The derailment came five years after a spate of fatal crashes that began in the late 1990s.
In October 1999, 31 people were killed in the Paddington rail disaster in west London, while four died in October 2000 at Hatfield in Hertfordshire.
Ten people were killed in the Selby crash in Yorkshire in February 2001, and the Potters Bar crash in Hertfordshire claimed seven lives in May 2002.
The Rail Safety and Standards Board said Britain's rail passengers are "safer than ever'', with serious incidents such as trains striking objects and derailments falling from 45 in 2007 to 17 last year.
Its director of rail safety, George Bearfield, said the industry has taken a "methodical and targeted approach'' to managing risk and improving safety.
But he warned the "unprecedented 10-year respite'' since Grayrigg does not mean "train accidents are consigned to history''.
Martin Frobisher, route managing director for Network Rail, said: "On the 10th anniversary of the Grayrigg incident, our thoughts are with the family and friends of Margaret Masson, who tragically lost her life and with all those who were injured or affected by what happened.
"Valuable lessons were learned which have contributed to the railway in Britain now being the safest major network in Europe.''