YOUR editorial was right to highlight the need to invest in railway safety but it was misleading to mention the Great Heck accident in this context (May 27).
No blame can be laid at the doors of the railway for this tragic incident: you will recall it was caused by a road driver who fell asleep at the wheel of his vehicle while in no fit state to be on the road, causing his van and trailer to run down an embankment on to the line.
The fact that two trains going in opposite directions were at that moment bearing down on the scene was the cruellest bad fortune, but neither improved automatic braking systems nor better radio communication could have intervened in the circumstances which unfolded at Great Heck.
Michael Blakemore,
De Grey Terrace,
Avenue Road, York.
Updated: 10:43 Friday, May 30, 2003
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