UNION leaders have accused rail bosses of putting profit before passengers by over-riding safety regulations to keep trains running even if they have faulty doors and alarm systems.

The RMT union hit out at Northern Rail, the only rail operator to use East Lancashire's lines, after they reviewed regulations on their trains to keep services running even if they have certain faults.

Up until now, if either a train's passenger alarm system or the automatic door controls, which are supposed to stop doors opening when a train is moving, are found to be faulty the service is supposed to stop at the next train station.

But under the revised rules, a train will be allowed to continue operating for the whole day after its fault has been detected.

Northern, which took over services from First group in February, insisted today that the only reason for the change was to prevent passengers being stranded on stations, and that safety would not be compromised.

But Stan Herschel, from the RMT union, said: "Northern Rail have set out, not to alter the rule book, but to supplement the rule book.

"We believe that the changes they are putting forward to my conductor members constitute unsafe working.

"It is my opinion that there is a shortage of rolling stock and rather than take a train out of service when there is no replacement they are prepared to run it in an unfit state."

Train operators are liable to pay compensation to passengers if services are delayed by more than one hour -- something which would conceivably happen, particularly on rural lines such as the Blackburn-Clitheroe route, if a train stopped as soon as the fault was found.

A spokesman for Northern said that train operators across the country were considering the change.

He said: "This has been properly thought through by the industry to make sure we don't dump passengers in remote locations.

"It is about enabling staff on board to make common sense decisions, giving them the option to keep going if they feel it is appropriate, such as when a train is the last one of the night on a rural line.

"If it is a remote location it is safer to keep people on a train than by stopping it and leaving them waiting for the next one."