Eastleigh MP David Chidgey has called for the government to back action to improve rail safety.

Speaking during a Parliamentary debate on transport safety, he reminded MPs that improvements recommended after the inquiry into the Clapham rail disaster had still to be implemented.

He said: "The Clapham inquiry called for automatic train protection systems to be installed throughout the network and the old slam door carriages, dating back to the 1940s to be scrapped.

"Yet ten years after the tragedy at Clapham, which affected so many of my constituents, there is still no proper protection system to stop trains being driven through red signals.

"To make matters worse, there are still thousands of the old and dangerous slam-door carriages trundling around the rail network."

Mr Chidgey said it was "galling" to think that, before rail privatisation, an automatic door locking system was developed at the Eastleigh railway works - but was not introduced because carriages were supposed to be replaced in a short space of time.

Mr Chidgey told the Daily Echo he was calling on Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to complete the inquiries into the Paddington accident and other safety issues as quickly as possible.

The Eastleigh MP said he wanted a clear separation of responsibilities for accident investigation and an end to the "blame game" where rail companies were more interested in denying liability than discovering the cause of accidents.

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