'Thank you' message from Virgin Rail boss

8:50am Friday 2nd March 2007

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A MESSAGE of thanks from Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Rail Group, for all the people who helped after the Grayrigg derailment.

The thoughts of everyone at Virgin are with the family of Margaret Masson who was tragically killed in the accident and those who remain in hospital, including Iain Black, the driver of the train.

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We would like to extend our thanks and appreciation to everyone who offered support.

The train derailment last Friday night must have come as a dreadful shock to the people who live in that beautiful Cumbrian countryside.

I must say I was very impressed to hear how those kind people rallied round, opening their hearts and opening their doors to strangers in distress.

All of us at Virgin would like to say a huge "Thank You". We are full of praise for local residents who helped in rescue efforts and offered comfort to people from the train. The emergency services and hospital workers did brilliantly.

It was a very sad day due to the loss of life and injuries.

As a human being I went there. If my children had been on that train I would expect the company to come and learn from it and to show sympathy to the victims.

I was on holiday with my family in Switzerland, watching a film, when I noticed 10 messages on my phone and thought there was something wrong. I'm always concerned for passengers and at that stage passengers were still trapped on the train and we didn't know how many were injured.

I was astonished at what I saw at the scene. The train itself stood up remarkably well.

The driver, Iain Black, did an amazing job. He stayed in his seat for the quarter mile that the train came off the rails to control the train. He didn't try to protect himself by running back from his cab and therefore he sustained quite serious injuries to his neck.

He did an extraordinary job. He could have dashed from his cab but he didn't.

The local people were really great. Emergency and health workers, mountain rescue volunteers and railway colleagues from Virgin, Network Rail and other companies also deserve thanks for their support and for all that they did for the people caught up in that tragedy.