The driver always has the final say on whether the train is safe to move. They are not just a button and lever pusher. They have to analyse whether the decision is correct. Hence why I stated there were multiple points of failure. The controller and the driver both went with full speed despite it being completely against regulation on a red signal.

> They are not just a button and lever pusher.

I agree. But the decision whether all switches are locked in the correct position and that the track is clear, is not one that he is supposed to make and he also doesn't have the information for it.

> The controller and the driver both went with full speed despite it being completely against regulation on a red signal.

Going full-speed in the case of a red signal is not necessarily against regulation. Also the information of "red signal" or "you can go" is both a signal from the same source. There is no information for the driver to make a different decision over the dispatcher.

I can't comment about whether the current accident was caused by going against regulation, and more important by whom and against which. We need to wait for the proper safety report, not for a BBC article. If you take the latter at face value, it would mean there are clowns operating, which I am sure, is not actually the case. The real error is always way more subtle, otherwise it would not have happened.