COMMUTERS claim safety barriers at Cononley level crossing failed to operate on Friday, allowing a train to go straight through.

One told the Herald the incident could have been fatal.

He said: "It was the Skipton train which leaves about 7.19am. When it got to Cononley none of the barriers came down and it just went right through."

The man, who did not want to be named, said about a dozen people were on the platform and witnessed the event.

"If anybody had been driving across or walking across with their personal stereo on, they wouldn't have had a chance."

A spokesman for Raitrack said that an investigation had been carried out following a complaint from a member of the public.

She said: "The train did not stop at the station when it was scheduled to do so. The barriers did come down for the passage of the train through the station. However because the train did not stop it was travelling much faster and the barriers would have lifted sooner.

"There was no failure of the barriers and there was no danger to the public."

A spokesman for Arriva, which operates Northern Spirit, said the train had not stopped due to a driver error.

Tim Calow, of the Aire Valley Rail Users Group, said he had not heard of the signals failing at Cononley since 1982.* There was more trouble at Cononley yesterday (Thursday) when a train broke down.

The incident happened at 6.35am and the line was clear by 7.15am.

A spokesman for Arriva said: "The timetable recovered quite quickly due to the frequency of the trains at that hour."