Iarnród Éireann is to investigate an accident yesterday in which the 6.20 a.m. train from Longford to Dublin smashed through railway gates in Co Longford.
A woman was hospitalised after the commuter train ploughed through closed railway gates just a few hundred yards from Edgeworthstown train station.
Last night the Fine Gael spokesperson on transport, Mr Denis Naughten, claimed the signalling system used at the level crossing, Sigma 4, is outdated and needs upgrading.
He said the system "is over 100 years old and the oldest signalling system on the Irish rail network."
A Longford woman received minor injuries when debris from the collision smashed a window in the train just 10 minutes after getting on the train in Longford.
Commuters were taken off the train at Edgeworthstown station and placed on the 7 a.m. train to Dublin.
No damage was done to the train line and trains ran as normal throughout the day.
Iarnród Éireann said yesterday the accident could have been much worse if a vehicle happened to be driving through the level-crossing at the time of the accident.
"We will investigate how the train came to be driving towards a closed gate. It will take a number of weeks before we have a clear view of what caused the incident," said Iarnród Éireann spokesman Mr Barry Kenny.
He added: "It was a very serious incident. It could have been a much more serious situation if there was a motorist on the road. Thankfully, such incidents are extremely rare."
The level-crossing is operated manually by members of the local staff of Iarnród Éireann. The old station-keeper's house is still there and houses the system, but the house is now unoccupied.
The train is understood to have been travelling at about 30 m.p.h. as it prepared to stop to pick up more passengers in Edgeworthstown.
Mr Naughten called for the Rail Safety Bill to be passed through the Dáil, giving extensive powers of investigation to an independent body. He said he was not happy that Iarnród Éireann is the one investigating incidents like this.
"The Bill was drafted by minister Mary O'Rourke in 2001. It has been long-fingered. We have been waiting 32 months for such a critical piece of legislation, and yet there seems to be no urgency from the Government," Mr Naughten said.
The Bill, he said, was drafted because the minister was unhappy about what she termed the company's failure to provide "full and timely" information into rail incidents.
Mr Kenny said Iarnród Éireann would always carry out their own investigation even if an independent investigation were underway. "We are obliged to investigate an incident like this, so that we are satisfied we know what happened," he said.
The level-crossing on the Edgeworthstown-Ballymahon road was the scene of an incident two years ago when a lorry jack-knifed on the level-crossing and frantic efforts were made to stop an oncoming train before it could collide with the lorry. An accident was averted and no-one was hurt.