AN INQUIRY into a train derailment outside Kendal in which dozens were injured and one woman died is focused on a set of points.
Ambulances, fire crews, helicopters and mountain search and rescue teams flocked to the scene, after the Virgin Pendolino train taking passengers from London to Glasgow derailed at 8.15pm yesterday, outside the village of Grayrigg.
Several carriages of the nine-carriage train overturned, with part of the train raised up on its end in remote farmland just metres from a viaduct.
An 84-year-old woman, Margaret Masson, of Glasgow, died and five other passengers were seriously hurt in the accident.
Today, accident investigators from the British Transport Police, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, as well as search parties from mountain rescue teams, swept the scene in search of clues to the cause of the accident.
Network Rail, which is responsible for maintaining the track, has said that the investigation will focus on a set of points.
Network Rail chief executive John Armitt, who was at the scene, said: "We now need to understand what happened here and establish the facts. This may take time and it is in the hands of the independent Rail Accident Investigation Branch."
Superintendent Phillip Trendall of the British Transport Police said that teams were working round-the-clock to make the area safe and warned it could take a week or more to complete the inquiry.
He added that the points on the line would be thoroughly examined during the investigation. But he warned against speculation about the causes of the accident.
Investigators will be building a temporary road at Bracken Hall Farm, next to the railway line, from where the rescue operation was coordinated, so that they can access the scene more easily.
Supt Trendall also praised local people and the emergency services for their work in dealing with the crash saying that everyone involved had worked hard to make "the best of a difficult situation".
Twenty-two people went to hospital following the accident, including train driver Ian Black, while dozens more suffered minor injuries. Three passengers remain in a serious condition.
Shortly after the accident the passengers gathered at the farm.
Injured passengers were taken to Westmorland General Hospital, the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Furness General Hospital, and the Royal Preston Hospital by ambulances and helicopters at the scene.
Around 85 uninjured passengers were taken to Grayrigg School, where their details were taken by police and staff from Virgin Rail.
Delwyn Wray, director of the North West Ambulance Service, said that it was "remarkable" that more people were not injured.
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