TRAM operators failed to understand the risk of carriages overturning on curves, investigators said yesterday in the report into a crash which killed eight people.

Train drivers’ union Aslef put the accident down to a “failure of regulation and management,” saying that it could have been avoided.

The derailment occurred on November 9 last year, at Sandilands junction on the Croydon Tramlink network. The tram was travelling at 73kph (just above 45mph) — over the 20kph (12.5mph) speed limit.