§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the outcome of the inquiry held following the collission of several trains at Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, towards the end of 1971; and whether the inquiry recommended additional safety arrangements to avoid a recurrence of such accidents.
§ Mr. PeytonThe public inquiry revealed that one of the ballast trains involved was considerably overloaded, went out of control on the steep gradient and then collided with another engineer's train which, in turn, was pushed forward into collision with a third train. The lines were closed to passenger traffic at the time. British Railways have already taken action to prevent a recurrence. The Inquiry report and its further recommendations will be published in due course.