A railway worker has resigned after passengers on a Brighton-bound train were led across a live power rail.

The incident, which has just been made public, happened on October 6, less than 24 hours after the Paddington rail disaster.

The 4.56am Bedford to Brighton train, operated by Thameslink, came to a stop at 7am outside East Croydon after passing through Norwood Junction.

Thameslink arranged for another train, the 6.43am from London Bridge to link up with the stranded train and push it into East Croydon.

But that service also lost power. The driver radioed for help and Railtrack sent an incident officer to the scene.

The Railtrack incident officer led the passengers along 500 yards of track to East Croydon Station.

But he did not ensure the power was switched off. If a passenger had touched the live third rail then they would have died instantly.

The officer is 62 and colleagues say he resigned rather than face disciplinary charges.

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