Pendolino Prang

For the second time in a week, one of Richard Branson's shiny new wobbly trains has failed to stop at the end of the line.

Rail passengers are facing delays after a Virgin train hit the buffers at Liverpool's Lime Street Station for the second time in a week. The Pendolino train hit the buffers at platform seven, at lunchtime on Tuesday. It is not thought that anyone was hurt.

I hope this isn't symptomatic of a wider problem with these trains. I'm reminded of the early years of the Thames Turbos (class 165 and 166), where one ran through the buffers at Slough during the leaf-fall season, and ended up sitting on platform five (just missing the famous glass case containing the stuffed dog). I also remember waiting for a class 455 EMU at Datchet that overshot the platform by seven car lengths and had to reverse back in, at the same time of year. But the very urban approach to Liverpool Lime street isn't exactly prime leaf-fall territory.

We shall have to see what the cause of these incidents turn out to be. Let's hope any problems get identified before there's a more serious incident