Fatal train crash inquest to open

An inquest into the death of a woman who was killed in a train crash in Cumbria more than four years ago is due to start.Margaret Masson, 84, from Glasgow, died when a Virgin Pendolino express train derailed on the West Coast Main Line near Kendal in February 2007.Twenty-two other passengers were injured as the London to Glasgow train careered down an embankment.An inquiry ruled the train had gone over badly maintained points.Mrs Masson, known as Peggy, was travelling with her daughter Margaret Langley, who is due to give evidence at the hearing at Kendal County Hall.The train driver, Iain Black, from Dumbarton, broke his neck in the crash.Mr Black, hailed a hero by Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson, is also due to give evidence to south and east Cumbria coroner Ian Smith.The driver was praised after it emerged he stayed at the controls of the train as it crashed near the remote village of near Grayrigg.After the incident, three railway workers were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.The men - a 60-year-old and a 64-year-old, both from Tebay in Cumbria, and a 46-year-old from Preston - were all later released without charge.A Rail Accident Investigation Branch inquiry ruled the "immediate cause" of the crash was the train had gone over a "degraded and unsafe" set of points.