An MP and the leader of Croyond Council have reacted to the report into the devastating Croydon train crash last November where seven people were killed.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said the driver may have "temporarily lost awareness" on a straight section of the track and may have fallen into a "microsleep" for up to 49 seconds.

Sarah Jones, MP for Croydon Central, said: "Our first thoughts will always be for the victims' families. They will be reliving this tragedy yet again, and it will be another difficult day for them. The most important thing we can do for them is show that lessons have been learned and make sure this never happens again.

“Some of the report’s findings are quite shocking. There were missed opportunities to prevent this tragedy and safety improvements are needed across the network, from window quality to automatic speed controls.

"It would appear driver awareness was also an issue but we should respect the ongoing criminal investigation. Ultimately it's clear the industry has a lot of work to do.”

“There are many agencies involved in solving this – fault has been found at everyone’s door. What we need now is swift action. So I've written to the Transport Secretary, Mayors in London, Manchester and other tram cities, regulators and tram operators to ask that the report's recommendations quickly become reality.

"Personally, I would have liked to see the report go further on recommending immediate changes to window and door quality and I'll be pushing for this to be considered.”

Last week, Croydon Guardian reported that a widow of one of the people killed believes the crash could have been avoided if action was taken after a similar speeding incident days earlier.

Marilyn Logan, whose husband died in the crash, said that a similar speeding incident on October 31 was not acted on quickly enough.

Reacting to the report, Tony Newman, leader of Croydon Council, said: “Just a few weeks ago Croydon commemorated the first anniversary of this tragic incident and the victims, their families and friends are never far from our thoughts.

“Our residents rightly expect to be safe when travelling on public transport networks and I welcome the recommendations outlined in the report.

"Passenger safety is paramount and I would like to see those recommended actions be put in place as quickly as possible to prevent anything like this ever happening again.”