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Rail worker arrested over fatal Cumbria train crash

A rail maintenance worker has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter in connection with a train derailment in Cumbria in which a passenger was killed.

Detectives are investigating claims that a vital inspection of a set of points was not completed five days before the points led to the derailing of a high-speed train at Grayrigg on February 25.

The Network Rail employee, aged 46 and from Preston, Lancashire, was arrested on Wednesday by the British Transport Police. He was released on police bail until October 31.

A police source said that the investigation was centred on possible failures properly to carry out maintenance on the track, rather than a deliberate act of sabotage.

Margaret Masson, 84, from Cardonald, Glasgow, was killed in the crash, five passengers were seriously hurt and more than 15 others injured when the London to Glasgow Virgin Pendolino train derailed at about 95mph.

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An interim report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch three days after the crash said that one of the three stretcher bars on a set of points at the crash site was not in position, two were fractured and bolts were missing. The bars keep the moving rails the correct distance apart.

It also said that there was evidence that the last scheduled inspection of the points, on February 18, did not take place.

After the crash, Deputy Chief Constable Andy Trotter of the British Transport Police said that criminal charges could not be ruled out.

A second interim report into the crash is expected to be published in the autumn.