Pendolino Design and Cumbria Derailment

The latest from a simulcast press conference, on Radio 4 and 5 Live, is that the chief suspect in the Cumbrian rail derailment is a problem with the points on the rails.

The Pendolino design gets stick for having no luggage space, but there are some hidden benefits:

The small windows will have helped to prevent people from being ejected as the carriages overturned. In the Berkshire crash in November 2004, several of the deaths resulted from passengers being thrown through windows.

The seat backs are taller on a Pendolino than on a traditional intercity train. This design ensures that passengers are not hurled over the top in the event of a crash.

The emergency lighting on the Pendlino train appears to have worked even after the carriages overturned. This would have made it much easier for passengers to escape.

Unlike in the Paddington crash in October 1999, where some of the worst injuries were caused by a fireball, there was no fuel on board to ignite. The West Coast Main Line is fully electrified.