Lord Berkeleyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why, following the derailment on the West Coast Main Line at Stafford on the afternoon of 36WA 20 October, the police closed the unobstructed and undamaged fast lines for seven hours. [HL50]
§ The Minister of State, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (Lord Macdonald of Tradeston)The 16.57 Birmingham to Manchester train derailed at Stafford at 17.53 hours on 19 October. The derailment occurred within 5 yards of the main line to London and for safety reasons Railtrack stopped the main line services. As no passengers were injured it was agreed by the Staffordshire Fire Brigade, the British Transport Police (BTP) and the Rail Incident Officer present that they would remain on the train until road coaches arrived. They would then disembark in a safe and staged manner.
The evacuation commenced at 19.27, but the restricted access to the site meant that this was a long process. At 20.20, the BTP and the Rail Incident Officer agreed that trains on the main line could be run at caution once all passengers had been evacuated. Trains began running at approximately 21.30, some 4½ hours after the derailment.