The Argus told yesterday how the 9.31 Hastings to Ashford service was seen to career off the tracks as it pulled out of Hastings Railway Station. The incident is the latest in a number of accidents involving trains which have been blamed on human error.

Last October a London to Hastings passenger train crashed near Lewes after a mistake by its driver, platform staff and the guard. The smash derailed the train after it passed a red signal before hitting an empty train travelling from Seaford to Brighton.

Human error was also the cause of the Paddington train crash last year which claimed the lives of 30 people. Railtrack apologised to passengers for yesterday's blunder and this morning assured commuters it would not happen again.

Shocked passengers were forced to jump out onto the tracks to escape the crippled vehicle after yesterday's derailment. Passengers forced to leave the stranded train were taken by taxi to continue their journey while buses were put into action until yesterday evening.

Investigators were called in to study the area and maintenance crews worked throughout the day to move the train and check the track was safe and undamaged by the accident.

Suspicions that an object may have been thrown onto the track proved to be unfounded. Commuters were using the service again this morning.

A Railtrack spokesman said: "This was something we very much regret and we apologise to all those that were inconvenienced. We are carrying out a full investigation into what happened so this kind of thing can never happen again."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.