Lessons of Grayrigg "not learnt" says Farron as improvements ordered after 2007 rail crash not yet fulfilled

The lessons of the Grayrigg rail accident "still haven't been learnt" according to South Lakes MP Tim Farron, after it was announced that nearly a third of the safety recommendations made in the wake of the 2007 accident have yet to be implemented.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch said that seven out of the 22 recommendations had not been implemented following the incident at Grayrigg, Cumbria, in February 2007, which claimed the life of Glasgow woman Margaret Masson, 84, and left eight others in hospital, including the victim's daughter and son-in-law.

Commenting Mr Farron said:

"Two years on from the Grayrigg accident, and the failure of Network Rail to implement all of the RAIB's recommendations shows that lessons of Grayrigg still haven't been learnt.

"This failure also makes it much harder for the ongoing uncertainty over railway points to be addressed. The Grayrigg tragedy was caused by points failure, as was the Potters Bar tragedy and countless other near misses which thankfully did not lead to an accident."

"Now that this news has been revealed, it's vital that Network Rail act immediately to make the necessary improvements to make sure there isn't another repeat of the Grayrigg tragedy."