AS engineers began stifling through the wreckage yesterday of the two trains which crashed head on north of London on Thursday, ministers denied repeatedly that safety measures had lapsed since rail privatisation.
Although initial investigations point to driver error or signal failure as the more probable causes of the accident at Watford - one woman died and over 60 people were injured transport unions argued that if the government had purchased a stg£700 million rail safety system as ministers had promised before privatisation the accident might have been prevented.
However British Rail was forced to abandon the system be cause ministers believed it was too expensive. After pledging that there would be a full investigation into the accident, the Transport Secretary, Sir George Young, insisted passenger safety had not declined since privatisation.
"There is no evidence that the privatisation process or the restructuring of the railways has in any way diminished the safety record, on the contrary, the evidence is that the safety record has actually improved," he said.
The crash occurred during the rush hour on Thursday evening as the four coached commuter train, carrying 400 passengers, collided with an empty freight train just south of Watford Junction. Two carriages overturned, falling on top of each other on the edge of a 20ft embankment.
Passengers were stuck in this precarious position for several hours as rescue services cut people free. One survivor, Mr Barry Keates (61), a personnel officer, said: "We were tossed around, like peas in a concrete mixer."
Last night 11 people remained in hospital, including both train drivers, with four people needing surgery for limb injuries. Dr Graham Belham, clinical director of surgery at Watford General Hospital, said it was "quite remarkable" that there were so few seriously wounded.