The Ministry of Transport report on the collision was written by Lt Col GRS Wilson, a senior member of the Railway Inspectorate and published in June 1953. The local train should have been protected by two semaphore home signals; the Up Fast Inner Home about to its rear, and the Up Fast Outer Home a further back. A colour distant signal (the Up Fast Distant) would show green if the Outer Home was ‘clear’, or yellow if the Outer Home was at ‘danger’ and was positioned before the Up Fast Outer home; this being the full braking distance for an express at , the speed limit for this section of track.