Plaid Cymru Senedd member Elwyn Vaughan lives near to Talerddig and went to the village on the night of the collision.
“It was a big event at the time,” he said.
“It’s highly unusual, thank goodness, for two trains carrying passengers to go head-on in these islands.
“Therefore, with thoughts obviously with the family of the deceased and those that were injured, it’s paramount that these lessons are learned and acted upon.”
A joint statement from Transport for Wales and Network Rail said safety remained “our highest priority for both our customers and colleagues”.
“Our thoughts continue to be with the family and loved ones of David Tudor Evans and those passengers injured in the incident, and we continue to support our colleagues who were injured or affected,” it added.
The firms said they welcomed the publication of the report, adding they had “cooperated fully with the investigation throughout”.
“While incidents of this nature are extremely rare on our rail network, we remain committed to working together as an industry to carefully consider the report’s recommendations to help prevent a similar incident in the future.”
Dave Calfe, general secretary of ASLEF, the train drivers’ union, said drivers were “told not to deploy sanders over points” and claimed that “even if the sanders had been deployed, they would probably not have been able to stop the train in time, anyway”.
He added: “Our thoughts are with the family of David Tudor Evans, who tragically lost his life that day, and with the people… who were injured.”
