A train driver has been killed and 89 people injured after two passenger trains collided near Bedford, prompting British Transport Police to declare a major incident.
Emergency services said 11 people sustained very serious injuries, 22 suffered serious injuries and a further 56 people were treated for minor injuries following the collision involving two southbound East Midlands Railway (EMR) services heading to London St Pancras on Friday afternoon.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said the union was “devastated to learn that a train driver and former RMT rep has tragically died” in the collision.
In a statement, British Transport Police said the crash occurred at about 17:15 BST.
“Tragically, one person was pronounced dead at the scene. He is the driver of one of the trains involved and his family have been informed,” the statement said.
Following the incident, EMR suspended all services to and from London St Pancras for the remainder of Friday evening.
Passengers described scenes of chaos and devastation immediately after the collision.
Dr Peter Knapp, who was travelling in the “front carriage of the train that collided into another one”, recounted the aftermath.
“When I got up, I saw all of the chairs everywhere. It felt like I’d been in a bomb explosion.
“When I got up, I saw people’s bloodied faces and people’s legs looked broken and there was smoke everywhere”, he said.
Speaking from the roadside after being evacuated, Knapp said police were collecting passengers’ details while some victims were taken to hospital.
“Some people are spitting out blood”, he said.
Another passenger, Shola Mene, said she heard a “big bang” before passengers were thrown from their seats.
“People flew from their seats, the seats were pulling, and then someone just flew across and hit my husband in the face.
“There was a lot of blood. A lot of people had facial injuries”, she said.
Mene said confusion followed the impact as passengers struggled to understand what had happened.
UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was “deeply concerned” by news of the collision and the loss of life.
“My thoughts are with all of those affected,” she told reporters on Friday evening, “especially the people who’ve been injured, their friends and their family”.
Asked about the cause of the incident, Alexander cautioned that it was “too early to speculate”.
“We will make sure that there’s a thorough investigation done to establish how this collision happened and to ensure that lessons are learned so that we don’t have an incident like this ever again,” Alexander said.
“The UK railways are some of the safest in the world,” she added. “It’s very unusual for this to happen on the network.”
An air ambulance was among the emergency resources deployed to the scene, located south of Elstow near the A421 and A6 interchange.
Aerial images from the site showed both trains badly damaged, with most carriages remaining on the tracks while at least one carriage appeared to have been forced off course.
EMR said the trains involved were the 16:40 service from Corby to London St Pancras and the 15:50 Nottingham to London St Pancras, which collided at Bedford South.
Teresa Itabor, from Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, said she had boarded the train at 16:57 and was travelling to London to celebrate her birthday.
“We left Bedford station and there was a massive bang… I didn’t know what was going on. My head hit the seat in front of me,” she said.
“I opened my eyes and that’s when I saw people on the floor with blood everywhere.”
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers also expressed concern over the incident.
“We are deeply concerned by reports of a train collision between Bedford and Luton and the serious injuries sustained by on-board train staff and passengers.
“The thoughts of the whole union are with those affected and we continue to monitor the situation.”
EMR has advised passengers to use alternative travel routes for services to and from London St Pancras until the end of Saturday, 20 June.
The operator said tickets would be accepted on alternative routes at no additional cost and noted that other train operators had been informed of the “disruption to your journey “.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
