YORK'S notorious blackspot railway signal is to have an advance warning system installed to prevent accidents, it was announced today.

Signal Y304, just outside York Station, was identified on a national list of rail safety 'flashpoints' in the wake of the Paddington rail disaster a year ago.

It emerged trains had passed through it eight times in eight years while it was on red.

In August this year a ninth incident occurred when a train carrying hundreds of passengers overshot the red light by 60 feet after the driver misjudged his braking distance.

Now the notorious signal will be among the first in the region to have a new Train Protection Warning System installed.

The system will mean two sensors being placed on the track in the approach to the signal. If a train is going too fast, the system will automatically slam on the brakes.

Railtrack bosses stressed today there had never been any accidents caused by the York signal.

But because it was on a list of 22 'flashpoints' with a history of drivers passing while on red, it was being given priority for improvement as part of a £345 million scheme to install the Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) nationally by December 2002.

Railtrack spokesperson Sue Nelson stressed a number of measures had already been taken to improve the signal - including 'countdown' signals that gave drivers advance warning they were approaching it.

"We want to reassure people that the signal is safe," she said. "TPWS will just further reduce any chance of a train going past the signal when on red."

Rail bosses say TPWS will be able to stop any train travelling at 75mph or less as it approaches a red light within a 'safety zone' beyond the signal. Trains travelling more quickly will not stop completely in that distance: but will be slowed down.

But many critics claim TPWS is a 'cheap and cheerful' system; and that rail bosses should really be opting for a more advanced, computer-controlled system for ensuring trains do not pass red lights, known as ATP (Automatic Train Protection).

Stan Herschel, regional organiser of rail union the RMT, said today the safety improvements to signal Y304 were welcome.

But he added: "It's an improvement. But generally we believe that Railtrack is taking the cheap option and putting finance before safety."

But Railtrack's regional director Nicholas Pollard said today TPWS was an interim measure only - and that ATP could be introduced on the East Coast main line, including at York, from about 2006.

Investment in track had increased to £2.5 billion - twice what it was three years ago, he said.

Mr Pollard said: "Since the crash, we have worked very hard to learn the lessons and make the railway even safer. Safety is our first priority."

A minute's silence is to be observed at Paddington Station at 8.11am on Thursday - the time of the accident - to mark the anniversary of the Ladbroke Grove tragedy, followed by two minutes' silence at Ladbroke Grove itself at noon.