The unveiling of the memorial was attended by interior minister Annemie Turtelboom and government enterprises minister IngeVervotte,whose responsibilities include the rail authority NMBS. Also in attendance were senior executives of the NMBS, and the governors of Flemish Brabant and Hainaut province in Wallonia, where many of the victims were travelling from.

On Sunday, about 1,500 people took part in a silent march in Mons in remembrance of the victims. The NMBS network marked the anniversary on Tuesday by a minute's silence. A previous plan by the members of one rail union to bring trains to a halt at 8.39 - when the accident took place - and observe a standstill of 19 minutes in memory of the 19 victims, was cancelled because of the disruption it would cause.

The anniversary of the crash coincides with the release to parliament last week of the final report by a committee of rail experts charged with looking into the safety policy operated by the NMBS since 1982. The report contains many observations and recommendations, but its general conclusion is that there has been no significant improvement in safety on the railways in a period of almost 20 years, illustrated by the number of trains going through red signals, which has increased from year to year.

In 2010, there were 130 incidents of a train going through a signal at red, compared to 117 in 2009. Except for Buizingen, none involved fatalities, but several people were injured. They included a goods train derailed near Deinze that involved a chemical spill and a near-miss head-on collision in the Ukkel commune of Brussels. The most common location for trains passing a signal at red is around Brussels, on the main North- South link and on the branch of the Brussels-Leuven line leading to the airport.

The forensic investigation into the accident is ongoing. One of the main questions to be answered is whether the Leuven train ran through a red signal, as was stated immediately after the accident. The driver, a union representative said, denies missing the signal. He is now back at work but confined to administrative tasks until the investigation is completed. The driver of the other train, heading for Liège, was killed in the accident.

Also last week, the NMBS announced it has so far paid out €2 million in compensation to victims of the accident, including those who had suffered only material damage. The families of the dead have received the legally mandated €21,000 advance on compensation. The authority stressed that the payment of damages was not an admission of culpability; final awards will be decided when the judicial investigation is finished.

Flanders Today will take a closer look at the safety report of the Buizingen committee in next week's issue.

Pictured: Mourners at the unveiling of a memorial in Buizingen last weekend