Bedford train crash driver passed red signal, investigators say, as emergency crews describe 'spectacularly quick' response

What happened

On 19 June at about 17:15 BST, two East Midlands Railway services to London St Pancras collided near Elstow, Bedford. The train from Corby ran into the rear of a stationary train from Nottingham. The driver of the moving train, 60-year-old Shaun Burton, died at the scene. The collision injured 162 people, 102 of whom were taken to hospital. As of Monday, 53 remained hospitalised and eight were still in a critical condition.

The investigation

An interim report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB), published on 24 June, found that Burton's train had passed a red signal moments before the impact. The report states that the train was travelling at about 122 km/h (76 mph) when the brakes were applied, nine seconds before impact, and was still moving at 80 km/h (49 mph) at the moment of collision. The RAIB noted that it is not yet possible to say what indication the driver received from the automatic warning system (AWS) fitted to his train. The stationary Nottingham train had come to an unexpected stop because a fault with its own AWS equipment had caused its brakes to activate.

“It is not yet possible to say what indication the driver received.”

The stopped train was a Hitachi-built Aurora class 810, introduced into service within the past six months. Network Rail's eastern region managing director, Ellie Burrows, had earlier described the crash as a "tragic isolated incident".

Emergency response

Seven air ambulance helicopters from across England were scrambled. Magpas Air Ambulance, based in Cambridgeshire, was the first on scene. Its chief executive, Daryl Brown, said the unit had prepared for up to 20 fatalities, but the immediate response had been "spectacularly quick" and that extensive training had saved lives. Magpas dispatched ten medical team members, who treated thirty of the most seriously injured patients.

“I think there are many more people alive, thanks to the efforts of not just our air ambulance, there were seven air ambulance teams on scene, the police, the fire, the ambulance service.”

Casualties were distributed among multiple hospitals, including John Radcliffe in Oxford, Addenbrooke's in Cambridge, and hospitals in Bedford and Luton.

Ongoing disruption

The line remains disrupted while engineers access the crash site to remove the damaged trains and repair the track. Disruption is expected to continue through the week.