THE JURY at the inquest into the 2007 derailment of a Virgin Pendolino in Cumbria has agreed with earlier findings that badly-maintained points caused the crash, in which an 84-year old Glasgow woman was killed.

The inquest at Kendal has heard evidence from some 30 witnesses  in connection with the derailment, during the evening of 23 February, in which all but one coach of a Virgin Pendolino travelling north at almost 100mph (160km/h) became strewn down an embankment.

The hearing was concerned principally with the death of Margaret Masson, who was airlifted from the scene with a head injury but died later the same evening in hospital at Lancaster. It is thought that Mrs Masson may have been struck by a light fitting which had become loosened as the derailment developed.

The jury brought in a narrative verdict, in which the cause of death is explained rather than being given a simple label, such as misadventure.

Their verdict said that the facing points, which had formed part of a crossover, had not been adequately maintained and that no inspection had taken place during the 11 days which had preceded the crash.

Earlier, the court had heard evidence from a former Network Rail employee, David Lewis. He was the track section manager who should have inspected the points five days before the crash.

But he told the jury that he had warned his management repeatedly about a lack of resources, which he feared was endangering safety.

Mr Lewis’ solicitor said that his client was still concerned about public safety, because of worker fatigue and the limited track access in the area for Network Rail maintenance staff.

After the verdict was announced, Network Rail's managing director of network operations, Robin Gisby, said: "Today we remember the terrible tragedy at Grayrigg in 2007 and the tragic death of Margaret Masson. Network Rail has not hidden from its responsibilities – the company quickly accepted that it was a fault with the infrastructure that caused the accident. We again apologise to Mrs Masson's family.

"Since the derailment Network Rail has worked closely with the authorities, conducted comprehensive and detailed investigations and made substantial changes to its maintenance regime. Today there is no safer form of travel than rail and it is important that the rail industry seeks ways to make it safer still."

The coroner will now be submitting a report in which he will highlight the issue of track access and also the way lighting panels are fitted inside Pendolinos.