Railtrack executives were locked in emergency talks with other industry leaders last night as the aftermath of the Hatfield rail crash saw mounting criticism of the company's stewardship of the railways.
As they rejected the proffered resignation of the chief executive, Mr Gerald Corbett, Railtrack directors confirmed that a broken rail caused the Hatfield crash in which four people died and more than 30 were injured.
The company said the "probable cause" of the crash was cracking in the rail - it apparently having parted as the train sped over at 115 mph.
The company - which allegedly knew ten months ago that the section of track where the crash occurred was in poor condition - accepted its responsibility, said the condition of the five-year-old rail was "wholly unacceptable" and should have been repaired earlier.
Track work had been going on at Hatfield since May and the rail in question was to have been replaced next month.
"We thought the steps taken at the time were adequate and obviously they weren't," said Mr Nick Pollard, Railtrack's regional director.
He also told the Press Association that the question of why speed restrictions had not been imposed in the area before the crash would be investigated.
Railtrack promised that its programme of track renewal across the UK would be accelerated. However critics were further alarmed by the company's confirmation that it had identified about 100 track locations "with similar characteristics to that at the stretch of track at Hatfield". Even as Mr Corbett vowed "the necessary investment will be made", the Association of Consulting Engineers claimed continuing cost cutting by Railtrack was damaging rail safety.
Mr Peter Rayner, former senior operations manager for British Rail, claimed there was "an underlying malaise" at the heart of the rail system.
And the environmental group, Transport 2000, said contractors had cut the numbers of staff on maintenance teams.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr John Prescott, cut short a visit to China to discuss the crash with Health and Safety Executive members, as police continued their painstaking search of the site and Railtrack announced that services on the main East Coast line may not be fully back to normal until the middle of next week.
In his first statement since offering to resign, Mr Corbett said: "We cannot realistically expect at the same time huge improvements in punctuality and reductions in costs. Safety and investment are the priority."
A rush-hour passenger train derailed outside Stafford station tonight, British Transport Police said. No one is thought to have been injured in the incident.
--(PA)