A HIGH-speed train carrying hundreds of passengers smashed into 13 tonnes of stone on the track in Froxfield because a police call handler did not raise the alarm quick enough, an accident report has said.

Miraculously none of the 750 passengers on board the First Great Western Service from London Paddington to Penzance, were injured in the incident, which happened in the village near Marlborough at 5.31pm last February 22.

Minutes before the crash an Eddie Stobart lorry, which had taken a wrong turning, reversed into the Oak Hill Road bridge parapet, knocking huge lumps of masonry onto the railway line, which is the mainline between London and Reading.

Luckily, the train driver slammed on the emergency brake as soon as he saw the smashed wall lying across the tracks and despite crashing into it at 75mph, the train did not derail.

However, a report has now been published revealing the incident could have been avoided if a call to Network Rail had been dealt with properly, as there was a delay of eight minutes in the information being passed on.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch found that when the lorry collided with the bridge at around 5.20pm a car driver who saw what happened dialled 999.

But investigators discovered that instead of immediately calling Network Rail – as police procedure dictates – the Thames Valley police call handler called the British Transport Police and wasted valuable minutes discussing the incident and its location.

The report also shows that between 5.23pm and 5.28pm, several calls were then made between four control rooms, at Thames Valley and Wiltshire Police, British Transport Police and eventually the right department of Network Rail.

But there was not enough time to warn the driver, and the train hit and ran over the debris, causing serious damage to the underside of the engine.

The report reads: “This accident had the potential to be very serious had the fully laden train derailed at the estimated impact speed of around of 75 mph.

“Had the emergency message been passed directly to Network Rail, it is likely that the train could have been stopped before the collision, either by using the signalling system or by means of the GSM-R radio system fitted in the train cab.”

The RAIB has made four recommendations to emergency services and rail authorities so it does not happen again. These include flagging up to police forces the importance of contacting the correct railway control centre immediately when safety of a railway line is affected.

It also recommends to road vehicle standards bodies and the road haulage industry, the benefits of reversing cameras or sensors fitted to HGVs, after the report revealed the vehicle involved had neither fitted.

Network Rail should also install signs with contact details to report accidents as well as road signs on bridges warning drivers of a narrow road unsuitable for HGVs.