Hospitals across the region were still treating dozens of passengers on Monday after two southbound trains bound for London crashed on the same stretch of track north of the capital, killing one of the drivers and leaving nine people in a critical condition.
Twenty eight people remain in hospital, nine of them critically ill, following the collision near Bedford, about 90km north of London, according to police and railway officials.
East Midlands Railway (EMR) said the crash happened in the late afternoon and involved two London St Pancras-bound services: the 4.40pm departure from Corby and the 3.50pm departure from Nottingham. Both trains were travelling south on the same track when they collided.
Most of the carriages stayed on the rails, though at least one derailed, EMR said.
British Transport Police Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi confirmed that the driver of one of the trains was killed.
She said: “Tragically, the driver of one of the trains died in the collision.
“His family have been informed and our deepest condolences are with them, his friends, and his colleagues at East Midlands Railway.
“Over 80 people were treated at hospital last night. As of this morning, 28 remain in hospital, and nine are in a critical condition.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said investigators were still at an early stage and cautioned against drawing conclusions.
“We will make sure that there’s a thorough investigation done to establish how this collision happened and to ensure that lessons are learnt so that we don’t have an incident like this ever again,” Ms Alexander said, adding it was “too early to speculate” on the cause.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the incident “hugely concerning” and said he was “grateful to the emergency services for their swift response to this tragic incident”.
Passengers described a sudden, violent impact and scenes of confusion inside the carriages. Paul Cavin, who was on one of the trains, told the BBC: “We had stopped and suddenly we were hit from behind pretty bad.”
“There were people injured on my carriage,” he said, adding he could see many wounded people walking away from the trains, some with “smashed up noses”.
Another passenger, Brett Byatt, told BBC radio today the emotional shock had turned into fury. “This morning, it feels surreal and I think I’ve moved into the stage of anger now. I’m feeling pretty angry.”
Passenger Pete Knapp described people “crying, screaming” and said some appeared to have serious injuries.
Dr Knapp, 40 said: “There was a moment of being flung into the chair in front, and then I saw smoke.
“People were crying, screaming, people were so scared and confused.
“I got up and I saw a lot of people who were unable to speak, had broken legs, and then I managed to get out of the train and because I’m quite thin I was able to squeeze out through the gap in the doors.”
Train collisions are relatively rare in the United Kingdom, where major incidents involving multiple trains are infrequent.
A collision between two trains in mid-Wales in October 2024, in which one passenger died and four other people were seriously hurt, was Britain’s first fatal crash involving multiple trains for more than a quarter of a century.
