Trains in rush hour near-miss

Two rush-hour trains packed with hundreds of commuters were involved in a horrifying near-miss today stopping just 100 yards apart after one went through a signal at danger.

It happened shortly after the 9.23 had left Dartford station bound for Victoria. It then passed through a signal at red by two coaches.

Investigators say there was the "possibility of a collision" with the 08.49 Rochester to Charing Cross.

A spokeswoman for Connex South Eastern said that both drivers realised what was happening and applied the brakes.

"They were at least 100 yards apart," the spokeswoman added.

Safety chiefs launched an immediate investigation.

The number of signals passed at danger - SPADs - has risen for the first time since the Paddington disaster in 1999, when 31 died 400 were injured. There were 50 SPADS in July, 19 more than in the same month last year.

In June two London commuter trains came within seconds of a head-on collision after one went through a signal at red. That incident happened just before 5pm as the evening rush hour was building to its peak.

The eight-carriage 15.44 Faversham to Victoria passed through the red signal at St Mary Cray junction, just beyond Bromley South. The near miss, which also involved the 16.11 Blackfriars to Sevenoaks service, led to huge delays throughout the area with passengers stranded on other trains in soaring temperatures.

Earlier this year two Connex trains collided just outside Hither Green station after one of them went through red signal. That happened during the height of the morning peak at approximately 8.35 am when the 8.08 Crayford to Cannon Street ran into the back of the 7.58 Sevenoaks to Cannon Street.

The Sevenoaks service was found to be at fault.

All passenger train companies have been warned that they are too slow in dealing with SPADs. Meanwhile-Railtrack chief Steve Marshallis to meet the main rail unions to discuss the plight of thousands of staff who have seen savings wiped out by the company's financial collapse.

Mr Marshall admitted today many staff remain "shocked and financially distressed? by the collapse.

In a letter to Vernon Hince, acting general secretary of the RMT, Mr Marshall says: "Some of the employee cases that have been brought to my attention are, quite frankly, heartbreaking.... Whatever our personal views on the privatisation of Railtrack and how it was done it should not affect our commitment to fight for the staff and, from my point of view, our shareholders."

Many Railtrack employees received shares as bonuses during the past few years.

In a speech today to the Rail Industry Association, Mr Marshall is accusing rail regulator Tom Winsor of destabilising Railtrack by making allegedly untruthful public comments about it.