A RAIL safety system that can better prevent high-speed crashes may not be fully in use on East Coast Main Line services until at least 2020.

It was recommended the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) was fitted to all trains running at more than 100mph by 2010.

But the cheaper and less sophisticated Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) was favoured by the rail industry instead and subsequently installed on all GNER trains.

Now a report by the Strategic Rail Authority (SRA) has said the earliest realistic target for ERTMS on high-speed lines is in the 2020s.

The SRA said it had a proposed implementation date of 2014 for the East Coast Main Line, but this only concerned the South and Midlands section of the route.

A spokesman could not give a timetable for full implementation of the system, which it said was partly dependent on a renewal programme by Network Rail intended to remove the need for lineside signalling.

He stressed that the length of time being taken "was not a matter of cost, but was dependent on the technical development of the system".

A trial of ERTMS is planned for the Cambrian Coast Line in Wales in 2008.

Both safety systems are designed to stop drivers going through red danger signals, but ERTMS is considered the more fail-safe option, particularly at speeds of more than 70mph.

ERTMS constantly monitors the progress of a train and provides both automatic protection against the passing of danger signals and in-cab information to the driver.

Peter Rayner, a former British Rail manager, who co-authored a report for the rail industry on the merits of both ERTMS and TPWS, told The Northern Echo: "This delay is outrageous and is all because they have proceeded with TPWS which is the cheap and cheerful version of the two.

"Millions of pounds have been spent and wasted along with time and resources in doing so."

ERTMS, which will cost £2bn to install nationally, was recommended to be installed across the rail network in a report published four years ago.

The report was written by Lord Cullen, who chaired the inquiry into the 1999 Paddington rail crash, which killed 31 people, and Professor John Uff, who led the inquiry into the 1997 Southall crash, which claimed seven lives.