THE FAST TRACK TO TRAGEDY

Train drivers have reported two near-misses with vehicles at the unmanned Pools Crossing, near White House Farm, in Charlton, in the past eight years, it has emerged.

The private crossing has been misused on 15 other occasions since 1995, usually when the phone was not used by the road-user to confirm the track was safe to cross, the Rail Safety and Standards Board said.

The cause of the minibus tragedy remained a mystery, today, after initial British Transport Police enquiries revealed that the vital phone call to check safety was not made.

The owners of the land, Woods and Simms, also asked why the minibus was crossing the line to reach a field which was not ready to harvest.

Mid-Worcestershire MP Peter Luff, who was on the 7.15am Hereford-Paddington InterCity service, has tabled a series of parliamentary questions to DEFRA and the Department of Transport calling for rules to ensure that foreign workers drive safely and legally on British roads.

After emergency service workers reported that the victims could speak little English, he also wants to know if the minibus's passengers and driver knew they were in danger.

British Transport Police said this morning that there had been no change in the condition of three seriously-injured minibus passengers, who were airlifted to hospital and were described as "stable and reasonably comfortable".

First Great Western was running a normal train service today after the clean-up of the scene was completed by 7pm yesterday.

Body of man is found at farm

A MAN was found dead at White House Farm, the scene of the minibus tragedy, on Sunday, it has been revealed.

Officers were called to the farm at 2pm, where they found body of a man thought to be a labourer.

Police were not releasing more details until the next of kin had been informed, but said they were not linking the death to the crash.

His body was taken to Worcestershire Royal Hospital mortuary and a post mortem was due to be held tomorrow.

Airlifted to hospital

OUT of the 150 passengers on the train only one required medical attention.

The person was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

"One person on the train received minor injuries and was airlifted to Worcestershire Royal Hospital because of problems in gaining access by land ambulances," said a spokesman for West Mercia Police.

Crash horror rocks sleepy village

THE wailing of sirens awoke a sleepy Worcestershire village to a horrific rail smash in which three people died.

The victims, believed to be fruit pickers, were on a minibus rammed by the high-speed intercity train at Pool Crossing, Charlton, near Evesham yesterday morning.

Three others were seriously hurt after the Hereford-Paddington service, running 12 minutes late, hit the Ford Transit on the private land near White House Farm.

The passengers on the First Great Western service heard a loud bang, one sustained minor injuries and many were left covered in glass.

Rescue teams, the emergency services and the local and national media soon swamped the picturesque village's narrow lanes, as the rescue operation got underway.

A convoy of ambulances ferried the injured to hospital from the unmanned crossing and the grim task of removing the dead from the mangled wreckage began.

One of the injured was flown to Selly Oak hospital in Birmingham, while the others, including a further five described as having slight injuries, were taken by land ambulance to Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

Farm neighbour Frances Yarrow heard the first sirens just minutes after the 8.15am crash and as the emergency services turned on to the farm's land off Ryden Lane, she feared the worst.

"I thought with so many ambulances it must have been something to do with the crossing and unfortunately it was," she said.

"There's a phone by the crossing to contact the signalman to see if the line is clear.

"I sometimes cut down to the river (Avon) along this road, but I always ring first because it's a real blind spot on that bend."

A dog walker, who asked not to be named, said the dust track which runs through the farm was often used by villagers as a route to the river.

"If I walk down there, I always phone the signalman first, because it's just not worth chancing," he said.

Another unnamed neighbour said he was astonished that the minibus did not use a vehicle access tunnel, which runs underneath the track - just yards from the level crossing.

"I have driven my Land Rover through the tunnel several times, so unless there was surface water in the tunnel, they could have avoided using the crossing completely," he said.

Engine fault delayed service

A FAULTY engine meant the ill-fated 7.03am train from Hereford to Paddington was delayed by 12 minutes.

Engineers had been trying to fix the problem at Hereford before it set out on its journey but had no luck.

This meant it was being powered by the rear locomotive although the driver was controlling it from the front.

"A fault like this would sometimes slow the train down, although in this case there was quite a steep downward slope which enabled the train to pick up speed and it was going close to the 95 mph speed limit by the time of the impact," said a company spokesperson.

"We had tried to fix the problem at Hereford, hence the 12 minute delay, but were unsuccessful."

999 crews had simulated scene

FIREFIGHTERS were prepared for yesterday's crash because they had already taken part in a simulated disaster with an eerily similar scenario.

The simulation, called Operation Rudolph, took place at Worcester's Shrub Hill Station in which a train smashed into a minibus as it stood on the tracks.

"Many of the firefighters who took part in that exercise were on scene at the crash yesterday," said Hereford and Worcester Fire Brigade spokesman Alec Mackie.

Operation Rudolph, which took place in October 2001, was one of a series of large-scale simulations to test the readiness of the emergency services.

Around 50 firefighters with seven appliances from Evesham, Pershore, Broadway, Droitwich, Malvern and Worcester and two six-wheel off-road emergency vehicles attended yesterday's crash, along with five land ambulances and the air ambulance.

None of the survivors needed to be cut from the minibus and it was the firefighters' role to remove the dead from the wreckage.

No need to be on the line

THE employers of eleven minibus passengers killed or injured in yesterday's horrific train crash have revealed the workers had no reason to be crossing the railway line.

The passengers - all adults and believed to be Kurds and Iraqis - were working as fruit pickers for Simms and Woods Limited, a vegetable growing firm from Wyre Piddle.

But the company, which has farmed at White House Farm in Ryden Lane for four years, has said it did not have any crops north of the line.

"We have been farming at White House Farm for four years growing salad onions and leeks, although additional areas of the farm are currently sublet to other local vegetable producers," said director James Massingham.

"Gang labour is used in the daily hand harvesting of produce on the farm. This labour arrives on minibuses to the production area.

"It appears that the vehicle involved was attempting to deliver harvest workers to the production field for salad onion picking.

"Why they were doing this we don't know as at present we have no crops on the northern side of the railway line suitable for harvesting.

"We are still trying to establish why the workers were crossing the line and are carrying out our own investigation as well as liaising fully with all relevant agencies to establish the cause of the crash.

"We would like to express our deepest sympathy to all the families of the victims concerned in this tragic accident.

"Apart from that we have no further comment to make at this time."

Commuters walk away uninjured from nightmare

SHOCKED passengers filed off a dented Intercity train looking stunned after the horrific collision that left three people dead and three others seriously injured yesterday.

Great Western Railway's busy commuter service left Hereford 12 minutes late, at around 7.15am, and was due to arrive at London Paddington at 9.47am.

But the Monday morning trip to the capital turned into a nightmare as the 52-tonne train ploughed through a minibus on a level crossing, at Charlton, near Evesham.

Mid-Worcestershire MP Peter Luff, who was travelling to Westminster, was horrified when he saw a window explode in his first-class carriage.

Brian Jones, who was travelling to a meeting in London, also witnessed the moment of impact.

"I was reading my paper and then there was a loud crash and I saw one of the windows shower glass into the carriage," he said.

"One man was covered by it and he reacted very calmly, although he was taken completely by surprise.

"But the driver sounded shaken when he spoke to us a little later. It was quite a shock to know you have hit something."

Worcester city councillor Marc Bayliss was also on the train, which was carrying around 150 passengers when the collision happened.

"There couldn't have been any warning because we only started to brake after we'd hit the van," he said.

"I was in the third carriage and the whole train vibrated really badly. In fact, I was wondering if it was going to stay on the track at one point. No one panicked but everyone was just so shocked."

Gavin Swinburne was also travelling to work when the fatal accident took place.

"The first thing I knew of it was when we braked quite hard and one of the other passengers said they saw part of a van that had been twisted upside down," he said.

"I was towards the back of the train so it wasn't very noisy but it was a major shock."

Three of the fruit pickers in the minibus, thought to be Iraqis or Kurds, were instantly killed. The other eight were taken to hospital.

Passengers on the train had to wait almost five hours before they were taken to Evesham station, around 12.45pm, from where they were able to continue their journey using coaches and a replacement train.

Users must follow the strict rules

FAILURE to follow strict rules governing unmanned rail crossings may have caused the deaths of the three minibus passengers.

Despite clear instructions on how to negotiate the track at Pools Crossing, the Hereford-Paddington service still hit the Ford Transit near White House Farm, Charlton.

It has also emerged that several near-misses have taken place at the same junction since January 1, 1995.

A spokesman for the British Transport Police said that to use the unmanned crossing a call should have been made to the signaller from a phone on site for permission.

"Initial enquiries have revealed that no telephone call was received prior to the accident," he said. "The Health and Safety Executive examined the crossing and are satisfied that it was working correctly."

Philip Haigh, news editor of Rail magazine, said there had been accidents at unmanned crossing before.

"At these types of crossings there are always gates and warning notices instructing people very clearly what to do," he said.

Although the train was 12 minutes late, Mr Haigh said punctuality was irrelevant because it was up to a crossing user to gain permission or be satisfied it was safe to cross.

Rescued rower's second escape

A FATHER-of-three has walked away from the scene of a disaster for the second time in a month.

Mike Noel-Smith, was among the commuters to step off the 7.03am Great Western service, at Evesham station, after it had smashed into a minibus killing three people.

The fatal accident happened just four weeks after he cheated death during a severe storm while attempting to row 4,400 miles from Western Australia to Reunion Island.

"The train only had one engine when it collided with the minibus and we were travelling at a reasonable speed. If we'd had two engines we could easily have been de-railed," said the 45-year-old oarsman, from Much Dewchurch, Herefordshire.

"It was one of those moments when, just for a split second, you wonder if you are going to be thrown off the track and just hope that it doesn't happen and you'll be all right.

"One chap near me said, although he'd missed a really important meeting in London, what did it matter compared to being able to go home to his wife and kids that night.

"And he's exactly right, something like this just makes you feel glad to be alive."

Mr Noel-Smith suffered concussion, a broken nose and eye injuries when a freak 45ft wave pummelled the 22ft vessel he was rowing across the Indian Ocean with his friend Rob Abernethey, last month.

After yesterday's tragedy, ex-serviceman Mr Noel-Smith said he would enjoy each day as it came.

Arabic speaker's vital role

AN ambulance technician played a vital role in yesterday's rescue operation be-cause she was able to speak to the minibus passengers in their own language.

Katie Dickens, a fluent Arabic speaker, was a member of Hereford and Worcester's ambulance teams on the scene of yesterday's crash.

"If you can picture the scene it is obviously very, very traumatic with people who are quite badly shaken. Having the communication barrier makes things even more difficult," said Roger Job locality manager for Hereford and Worcester Ambulance service, who led yesterday's operation.

"But having something there who could communicate with them and provide assistance was a real boon.

"I kept her on scene to use her interpreting skills and help our colleagues in the police."

Mrs Dickens has been with the ambulance service for less than 12 months.

Mid-Worcestershire's MP Peter Luff, who was on the train at the time, said the ability of the technician to speak Arabic had raised his opinion of ambulance service even higher.