A YEAR ago, a Land Rover and its trailer careered off a motorway, triggering a series of tragic events which led to the deaths of ten people.

We were assured by the authorities that the Selby disaster was a million-to-one chance.

Since that fateful day, there have been 43 reported incidents where vehicles have crashed on to railway lines. The latest, last night, caused the derailment of a passenger train in Lincolnshire.

It is plain for all to see that, while the scale of the disaster at Selby may have been caused by a tragic coincidence of circumstances, it was much less than a million-to-one chance.

When The Northern Echo discovered that barriers on road bridges over the East Coast Main Line were sub-standard, we warned that there was another disaster waiting to happen.

Last night's incident clearly demonstrated that our warning was justified. Only good fortune prevented a higher death toll on this occasion.

A report earlier this week from the Health and Safety Executive insisted that risk assessments should be carried out on thousands of bridges.

It is scandalous that we have had to wait a year before there is recognition of dangers identified by the Selby tragedy.

In the 21st Century, there can be no excuse for there being inadequate barriers separating an out-of-control vehicle and an express train carrying hundreds of passengers.

Where barriers are found to be inadequate during the risk assessments, they should be replaced immediately.

There must be no squabbling between Railtrack and the local highways authority over who foots the bill for the repairs.

Thus far, the Government has washed its hands of this issue.

In the light of last night's tragedy, it must take a firm grip of the situation.

The safety of the travelling public is of the utmost importance.

The Government must seize the initiative by drawing up a funding framework which ensures, without delay, that all barriers are brought up to the appropriate standard.