Driver killed in UK train collision, nine critical

Twenty eight people remain in hospital, nine of them in a critical condition, after a collision between two trains north of London yesterday that killed one of the train drivers.

The crash occurred late afternoon near Bedford, a town around 90km north of the UK capital, and involved two London St Pancras-bound trains on the same track, the 4.40pm departure from Corby and the 3.50pm departure from Nottingham, according to East Midlands Railway (EMR).

Most carriages of the two southbound trains remained on the tracks but at least one derailed.

British Transport Police Chief Constable Lucy D'Orsi 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 it was "too early to speculate" on the cause of the crash.

"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.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the crash as "hugely concerning" and said he was "grateful to the emergency services for their swift response to this tragic incident".

A passenger on one of the trains, Paul Cavin, 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: "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 seemed to have major 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.

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.