Tonight with Trevor MacDonald

With the appalling news that the death toll from the Paddington rail crash which happened on Tuesday morning may rise to over 100, this special edition of the Tonight programme attempted to put together the facts already known about the cause and to look at ways to avoid anything similiar happening again. Many alarming facts have come to light: the Railways and government had previously decided that a breaking safety device system was too expensive to implement; the stretch of track was considered one of the safest in the country; the red light allegedly ignored by the local train's driver had been ignored on eight other occasions in the last five years. Interviews with survivors, doctors, experts, politicians and rail workers were presented - all calling for action now and not just public enquiries later as has been the case with these tragedies in the past. Despite the shortness of time to prepare, this programme was extremely well put together and presented with typical professionalism. Let's hope the pledge made by Transport Minister Gus McDonald to implement any enquiry recommendations no matter the cost becomes a reality. *****

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