PENDLE MP Gordon Prentice has demanded to know when the points which caused the Cumbria rail crash were last inspected.
The Labour backbencher was speaking in the House of Commons following Friday's crash near Kendal.
An 84-year-old woman died and 22 others needed hospital treatment after the Virgin Pendolino train from London to Scotland left the track.
An interim report into the derailment has found a key component in the points was missing and two others were fractured.
Speaking in the Commons Mr Prentice said: "Network Rail checked 900 sets of points. How often are those points routinely checked?
"Is that a matter of visual examination or do points suffer from metal fatigue? When were the points at Grayrigg last inspected?"
Network Rail, responsible for track maintenance said a monthly maintenance check of the points was carried out on February 3.
There should also have been at least one weekly visual check since then.
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