A FREIGHT train which passed two red signals near Glasgow and came close to colliding with a passenger train crossing in front of it may have had inadequate brakes, according to the RAIB. An investigation is now under way into the incident at Carstairs.

The RAIB said the freight train, 4L81, had been approaching Carstairs from the Glasgow direction as a passenger train from King’s Cross to Glasgow was crossing the up main line in front of it, just south of Carstairs station.

Although the movement was protected by two red signals the freight train passed them both as it approached the station. A signaller intervened to divert the freight train, which eventually stopped safely, but it had continued to approach Carstairs some two miles (3.2km) after the brakes had been applied.

The RAIB said ‘an initial review of the evidence suggests that the braking performance of the train was below that expected of a train of its type’. No signalling faults have been found.

The incident occurred on 22 December, in freezing conditions and falling snow, and was the first of two affecting freight trains in Scotland during the recent cold weather. An investigation is also under way into the derailment of a freight train at Carrbridge on 4 January, and buses are still replacing trains between Inverness, Aviemore and Perth following this accident.