A clearer picture has begun to emerge of how a serious train crash near Bedford last week unfolded. According to the report, an initial investigation into the collision has found that one train ran into another that was stationary, and that the moving train passed through a red signal shortly before the two collided on the line.
The investigation set out who was at the controls of the train that struck the stationary one. According to the report, that train was being driven by Sean Burton, who was killed in the accident. Investigators said it was not yet possible to say what indication the driver received about the red signal through the automatic warning system before the collision occurred.
Evidence from the train itself helped establish what happened in the final moments. According to the report, forward facing CCTV cameras on Mr Burton's train showed that it passed through the signal while it was displaying a red aspect as the train approached. At that point, the report said, the train was travelling at 76 miles per hour.
The findings also detailed how the train slowed in the seconds before impact. According to the report, the brakes were applied nine seconds before the collision, by which point the train had slowed to 49 miles per hour. The figures give an indication of how quickly events developed in the run-up to the crash.
Attention also turned to why the other train was standing on the line. According to the report, the stationary train into which Mr Burton's train ran appears to have been halted by the automatic warning system, having come to a stop unexpectedly, and there was a fault with the automatic warning system equipment. The system uses magnets applied to the tracks to send signals automatically to trains about the state of the signals, with drivers required to respond when a red signal is shown.
Officials responded to the findings while acknowledging those affected. According to the report, the Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, expressed her sympathy to all of the 162 people injured, around 40 of whom were still in hospital and eight of them in a critical condition. She said that Britain has the safest railways in the world.
The circumstances of the crash have now returned to formal scrutiny. According to the account, an inquest has opened at the Bedfordshire coroner's court into the death of Sean Burton, the 60-year-old driver who was killed in the collision. A pathologist confirmed at the hearing that Mr Burton, who was living in the Cambridge area at the time of his death, had died from traumatic injuries to the brainstem and chest sustained in the crash, while the train drivers' union ASLEF described him as a devoted driver who was enormously popular among his colleagues. The proceedings built on information previously published by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch about the circumstances of that evening.
Fresh detail also emerged about the moments before impact and the trains involved. According to the account, the coroner's court heard that Mr Burton had attempted to stop, having been driving at around 77 miles per hour before hitting his brakes and slowing to about 49 miles per hour, the speed at the point of impact. Both services were East Midlands Railway trains bound for London St Pancras, and the Nottingham service had been halted by a fault and left standing near Earlstow while attempting to contact a maintenance team, with a red signal set to alert the following driver, which the second train passed.
The scale of the collision was underlined once again. According to the account, the crash was declared a major incident because of the sheer number of people hurt, with more than 100 needing hospital treatment in the immediate aftermath, and passengers had earlier described the panic and chaos that followed the impact on the two trains as emergency crews responded at the scene.