 Both drivers, Barton and Rees, along with guard Brett-Andrews and two passengers, Raymond and Maura Pointer, were killed, the cabs so badly damaged that it was impossible to determine who had been driving 2E27 at the time of impact.There were several other contributory factors; it was conjectured that the AWS may have been inoperative (though the official report considers this unlikely), the signal was dirty and the light intensity was low, and there were no trap points to prevent a train wrongly entering a section against the signal.However the official report blamed the driver of the northbound train, Brian Barton.