TWO Virgin passenger trains on the busy West Coast Main Line narrowly avoided a collision at Oxenholme on Saturday morning, reports Andy Bloxham.

The 7.03am train from Birmingham New Street to Glasgow was pulling out of the station when the 7.44am from Manchester Piccadilly to Edinburgh heading into the station ran through a signal on red. The incident happened at 9.45am.

An automatic emergency braking system had to kick in to stop the train, which, if it were travelling at top speed, would have taken more than a mile to stop.

No one was injured but hundreds of passengers were delayed by an average of 20 minutes, as 85 trains were held up and three were cancelled.

The two train drivers involved were withdrawn from driving duties as quickly as possible, routinely tested for the influence of drugs or alcohol and an investigation began immediately.

Kendal rail enthusiast Dick Smith said: "Like any accident, it should not happen. But should passengers worry about using trains? Not particularly. There are far more dangerous things we do every day of our lives."

Network Rail media relations manager Keith Lumley said he could not say how close the trains came to smashing into each other but said: "Initially, there was an allegation it could have been railhead contamination, a slippery or greasy line. That has been discounted on the evidence so far. It's looking as if it's human error."

The train was due to stop at Oxenholme so it was not going at full speed, said Mr Lumley. "It didn't come within striking distance. There was no danger of the train that went through the signal running into the back of the other."

Mr Lumley added: "We are all human. We all make mistakes. You will never ever remove human error but you can enhance the safety system you've got, so that when those things happen, and they will happen, the consequences are reduced as much as you possibly can."

The equipment that stopped the train was part of a £500 million safety system installed after the Hatfield crash in Hertfordshire in October 2000, in which four people died when a train derailed.

The entire British fleet of more than 6,000 trains was fitted with the Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS).

The system is based on two sensors, which are located in front of the signal itself. Those sensors measure each train's speed as it passes and activate brakes if the sensors calculate the train is going too fast.

The £16 million second phase of the system is due to be completed by summer 2005.

Virgin Trains spokesman David Ewart would not comment on the incident until the independent investigation was complete. He said he could not give a number of people on the two trains at the time, as routine tallies of passenger numbers were not taken.

Last week, a new timetable designed to allow Virgin's new high speed tilting Pendolino trains to complete faster journeys got off to a poor start when the inaugural train from Glasgow was cancelled at Carlisle with a flat spot on a wheel.