Network Rail announced yesterday that it is taking direct control of maintenance in one of the busiest areas of track.

The company, which replaced Railtrack last year, said it was considering extending the move to other areas of the network to improve its "overall effectiveness".

Meanwhile, a top safety official has revealed his deep concern about delays in implementing a system for stopping trains passing red signals.

Bill Callaghan, chairman of the Health and Safety Commission, told today's Independent he was "impatient about the slow progress'' towards introducing the automatic train protection system, which would have prevented the Paddington and Southall disasters.