THE design of the Virgin train which crashed into a car on the railway line at Copmanthorpe helped save scores of lives.

Many serious rail collisions lead to fatalities because carriages smash into one another, or roll as the train leaves the tracks.

But the CrossCountry express did not overturn, despite hitting John Power's vehicle at more than 100mph.

Train-building company Bombardier, which designed the Voyager train involved in the crash, said its special design, and extensive testing, had helped ensure passenger safety.

Communications director Neil Harvey said: "The front end of the train can take a load of two kilonewtons, which is a lot of force.

"Trains now have inbuilt crumple zones', similar to those in cars, and are designed to crumple to protect the people inside."

Most impacts happen at the front of trains, where they hit objects on the line, so the greatest safety features are located there, although carriages are also built to withstand impacts from the side.

Mr Harvey said: "Once trains are designed, we put them through extensive testing before they reach the production line and we test the front cab end of the train to destruction.

"This takes about six months and that is how we find out exactly how much force the train will withstand.

"The design includes a sweep' at the front end so that anything it hits is pushed out to the side or underneath the train."

He added: "The fact the train stayed upright after this crash, which happened at 100mph, is testament to its design.

"It has a low centre of gravity to stop it rolling over, or make this as unlikely as possible.

"Each carriage also has an engine underneath and this helps to weigh them down."

It is thought that the front carriage of the 14.25 Plymouth to Edinburgh train was derailed by the crash - but the braking system continued slowing down the other four carriages.

Some passengers in the two rear carriages did not realise there was a problem or that the front of the train had derailed.

"We try to prevent the train from rolling on its side, or roof, but sometimes that is inevitable," said Mr Harvey.

"But the strength of this vehicle is that it is built like a tube so that if it is derailed, it doesn't crush those inside.

"The old-style carriages, which were taken out of service in 2004, had an integral chassis, with a bottom and a top and if they rolled, they collapsed.

"But a tube vehicle is all finished together and this makes it a strong structure."

Virgin worked with Bombardier in designing the train, indicating where people would sit, so that if passengers were thrown about after an impact and hit doors, tables, chairs and luggage racks, they would not come into contact with sharp edges.

An accident waiting to happen

PROFESSOR John Knapton, a transport expert and known authority on rail crashes, said the circumstances of the incident had been "an accident waiting to happen" and a "wake-up call".

There are hundreds of places all over the country where roads run straight on to railway lines, even where level crossings have been boarded up, and are not in use.

One rail worker, who asked to remain anonymous, admitted: "There are many places in Britain where someone can drive at high speed through a fence and straight on to a railway line. This particular crossing was closed after they built the Selby diversion, which took the east coast line through Copmanthorpe, and a bridge was built over the top.

"There is nothing on this road apart from a few houses and it is simply marked as a dead end.

"People who live there park their cars at the bottom because it doesn't go anywhere." He called on highways officers around the country to look at such sites and improve their safety by building concrete blocks or other measures to prevent people driving straight on to the track.

After the Selby rail crash, reinforced railings, commonly called Gary Hart Fixers, were put up on many roads over railway lines.