Bedford crash occurred after train passed red signal, investigators believe

Interim report says other train it hit had halted on line because warning system wrongly caused it to brake

The train whose driver died in the Bedford rail crash passed a danger signal without stopping – while the train it hit had halted on the line because a fault in its warning system had caused it to brake, investigators believe.

An initial report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) into the crash, which also injured more than 100 people, said it was not yet clear whether the train’s automatic warning system (AWS) had alerted the driver of the southbound Luton airport express from Corby that he had passed a red signal.