THE father of a 24-year-old woman killed in the Paddington train crash, has called for computer aided protection on every train.

Robin Kellow, 61, and his wife Diana, 57, of Gargrave, lost their 24-year-old daughter Elaine in the crash in which 31 people died.

They have attended the opening days of the inquiry in London, chaired by Scottish judge Lord Cullen,

The hearing is looking into the events of October 5, 1999, when a Thames train driven by the newly-qualified Michael Hodder, 31, went through a red light at signal 109 near Paddington in west London.

The train collided nearly head-on with a London-bound Great Western express.

Mr Hodder and the Great Western driver Brian Cooper, 52, were killed, as were 29 passengers.

Mr Kellow, who is hoping to attend the hearing until at least July, said: "Tony Blair has spoken about every school having a computer - what about every train having one?"

Mr Kellow wants drivers to be backed up by Automated Train Protection, which the Government is testing on the Great Western line.

The technology acts as a safeguard for drivers and would have kicked in and automatically stopped the Thames Link train on which Elaine was travelling from London to work in Maidenhead.

Mr Kellow said he was also disappointed by the opening statements from Railtrack, Great Western and Thames Link which were very brief.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.