TRAINS are still jumping a red light near Southampton - five years after it was dubbed one of the most notorious danger spots on the country's railways.

The signal between Millbrook and Southampton Central station remains a source of potential danger, despite extensive safety work.

Signal E744, near Saxon Road, Freemantle, was named among the 12 most dangerous in Britain in the report carried out by the Chief Inspector of Railways into the Padddington rail disaster in 1999, after a series of safety breaches.

In the latest incident, a Wessex Train shot through by some 150 yards on August 8. The Train Protection Warning System kicked in to help the driver stop the train.

However the previous safety lapse was on March 27, 2003, when a train operated by Wales and West went through by 398 yards and TPWS had to intervene to stop the train. That incident was the first since April 1997.

Railtrack, the company then responsible for track infrastructure, was so concerned in the late 1990s that it relocated the light and added reflective colouring to make it more visible.

More recently Network Rail, which replaced Railtrack, has fitted much brighter LED lighting to ensure the light is visible to drivers. The work was completed last month, only weeks after the latest Spad (signal passed at danger).

A spokesman for Wessex Trains said: "We take incidents such as this extremely seriously. We have made recommendations to Network Rail suggesting how the signals can be improved."

He declined to say what they were or whether the train driver had been disciplined.

A spokesman for Network Rail said the positioning and layout of E744 caused drivers problems, as did low sunlight.

She said: "Since 1997 there have only been two Spads. Our work has significantly reduced the number. We hope LED will help further. It has only been developed this year and this is one of the first places it's been installed."

Graham Morris, regional organiser for the Aslef train drivers' union, said: "We are concerned when there is a multi-Spad lights, it shows there is a still a problem. More work needs to be done. The only thing to prevent Spads will be ATP, automatic train protection, which is used abroad and was recommended by the Hidden Report after Clapham but which governments say is too expensive."

Alan Whitehead, MP for Southampton Test, welcomed the news about new LED lighting but added: "I have concern over safety on this stretch of line. This should be closely monitored to see if the new lights make any difference."

A spokesman for the Rail Passengers Committee for Southern England said: "The safety of passengers is of paramount importance, so any