Fragmentation of Britain's railways following privatisation has "hampered the learning of lessons" from rail accidents, and an independent report yesterday recommended that two new regulatory bodies should be established to oversee safety.
Lord Cullen's wide-ranging inquiry into rail safety and standards, ordered after the Paddington rail crash in 1999, in which 31 people were killed, recommended that two bodies - for independent rail safety and accident investigation - should be established.
The company that owns and operates the rail infrastructure, Railtrack, currently sets safety standards, but Lord Cullen said this situation carries with it a "real or perceived risk of conflict of interests" and should end.
In addition, he said that while the Health and Safety Executive should continue as safety regulator and receive more public funding, its remit to investigate rail accidents should be withdrawn and a new Railway Accident Investigation Branch should be formed.
Lord Cullen said that since privatisation there had been a loss of skills within the rail industry and a shortage of properly trained and competent personnel. "There have been problems in bringing about large-scale projects and research in areas of strategic importance for safety," he said. "It has been difficult to provide safety leadership for the industry. Although there are signs of improvement it has been difficult for the industry to take united action on safety."
The British Transport Secretary, Mr Stephen Byers, said Lord Cullen's recommendations would be acted upon "as swiftly as we can", but a solicitor representing bereaved families from the Paddington rail crash expressed her concern that a new safety body would be "just the same people sitting in a different place".
Ms Louise Christian said the plan for Britain's railways was not radical enough and would not include people with engineering experience on the safety body.
Mr Tony Jasper, who survived the crash, welcomed the recommendation for a rail accident investigation body, but said he wanted to see one organisation take overall responsibility for safety.