Major Incident at Huntingdon (01/11/2025)

[Rail Ranger]

Shows that Realtime Trains etc. are still niche websites not widely known to the non-enthusiast public. Also presumably broadcasters are not willing to trust "non official" websites.

 

[43096]

The problem is that will immediately stop any trains which may be ahead, potentially causing a significant delay in you getting where you want to be. It's not always the best option.

Indeed. As seen with the Caledonian Sleeper runaway at Edinburgh where the driver had the presence of mind not to use a REC and called Edinburgh panel instead.

 

[edwin_m]

Man, 32, treated as only suspect in train stabbing as staff member in life-threatening condition, police say - latest

British Transport Police say the "heroic" man who tried to stop the attack remains in hospital. Five others have been discharged.

www.bbc.co.uk

• Police received calls from passengers on board the service at about 19:40, alerting them to the incident

BBC is reporting that passengers made calls to report the incident, so the police on the ground may have know as soon as or before the driver. So it's possible they initiated the diversion into the platform at Huntingdon and the driver was contacted to advise that was what was happening, rather than this being initiated by the driver. The police would also have had to mobilise all available emergency service to Huntingdon, to arrive before the train if possible.

 

[Trainguy34]

We don't know this. An eyewitness said the attack lasted 10-15 minutes which is of course unreliable but the train wouldn't necessarily slow down during the attack.

The BBC say that 999 calls were received around 19:39, at which point the train was probably around Woodwalton junction.

Image is a BBC map graphic showing 999 calls to come in at around 19:39 GMT.

 

[dk1]

Good to see services south of Peterborough are up and running again, most with minimal delays.

 

[brad465]

A BTP update is being given at 10:00:

As it happened: Man, 32, treated as only suspect in train stabbing as staff member in life-threatening condition, police say

British Transport Police say the "heroic" man who tried to stop the attack remains in hospital. Five others have been discharged.

www.bbc.co.uk

Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Paul Bristow has just spoken to BBC's Laura Kuenssberg.

He says the British Transport Police, who are leading the investigations, will give an update shortly on the stabbing attack - we expect a news conference to start at 10:00 GMT.

Bristow adds that counter-terrorism police are on site and advising the British Transport Police.

The mayor also commends the work of the emergency services, first responders and law enforcement, saying the train crew "responded amazingly" by stopping the train at Huntingdon station.

 

[MarkWi72]

It reached and stopped at Huntingdon (unscheduled) in 14 minutes, which is the time Thameslink services are timed to cover the distance and only three minutes more than 1Y90 was given to cover it by the WTT (with no pathing/recovery time).

If it started at or after Peterborough, in the same 14 minutes the incident has begun, the emergency buttons pressed, the driver has been alerted, he/she has proceeded at close to full speed while getting the train signalled into P2 (the preceding services were routed on the Up Fast so one assumes this was planned to also) and stopped.

This seems, on the face of it, like an extremely effective and I dare say heroic emergency response to something almost unprecedented.

Would it have been re-routed into the slow/platform lines at Connington South Jn? What is te junction speed there? As you say a heroic response.

 

[Royston Vasey]

Would it have been re-routed into the slow/platform lines at Connington South Jn? What is te junction speed there? As you say a heroic response.

Looking at Traksy the only place it would make sense is at Huntingdon North Jn itself, i.e. on the immediate approach

 

[D6130]

Would it have been re-routed into the slow/platform lines at Connington South Jn? What is te junction speed there? As you say a heroic response.

No....there is no up slow line between Conington South Junction and Huntingdon.

 

[Banham7]

The driver and signaller need to absolutely be recognised for their response to this. They did (in my opinion) the right thing by platforming the train at Huntingdon rather than stopping it in the middle between Peterborough and Huntingdon. With these types of incidents, it is way safer to be platformed in a safe location than not to be, and also enables the emergency response to be quicker.

 

[MarkWi72]

No....there is no up slow line between Conington South Junction and Huntingdon.

Ok. I'm not familiar with the routes / lines on ECML. Where would they re-route into Huntingdon Platforms - closer to the station?

 

[D6130]

Ok. I'm not familiar with the routes / lines on ECML. Where would they re-route into Huntingdon Platforms - closer to the station?

Huntingdon North Junction....on the immediate approach to the station.

 

[Royston Vasey]

BBC is reporting that passengers made calls to report the incident, so the police on the ground may have know as soon as or before the driver. So it's possible they initiated the diversion into the platform at Huntingdon and the driver was contacted to advise that was what was happening, rather than this being initiated by the driver. The police would also have had to mobilise all available emergency service to Huntingdon, to arrive before the train if possible.

I would expect the signaller to have done the same as soon as the route was set (and to do so with a lot more solid and calm information for the emergency services, i.e. details of train, platform and time expected).

Huntingdon's police and ambulance stations are both within 500m of the station. I haven't heard whether they were waiting for the train on arrival, but they weren't far away

 

[Tom]

Shows that Realtime Trains etc. are still niche websites not widely known to the non-enthusiast public. Also presumably broadcasters are not willing to trust "non official" websites.

I’m not sure that is the case as much as you think it might be. My phone rang several times last night from various journalists asking for information and in several cases they had already identified the train - I declined to comment on all cases and suggested they may want to wait for official confirmation from the BTP and LNER.

 

[Steve Harris]

The BBC say that 999 calls were received around 19:39, at which point the train was probably around Woodwalton junction.

I was thinking this ^ last night but I would imagine that there would be a slight delay from when the attack started to people realising what was happening and then dialling 999 and then being connected to the emergency services call handler, probably not much more than 1 minute at a guess. So I would say it was probably nearer Connington. No doubt we will find out in the fullness of time.

Currently my thoughts are with all those involved last night and i hope those in hospital make a full recovery.

 

[RUK]

Also I vaguely recall there was a major exercise around the Norwich area earlier this year - is it likely train staff from the wider area such as this stretch of line will have participated in it, so therefore showing the value such exercises may have?

Yes - the attending TOCs at Operation Topham at Norwich Crown Point depot, on 9th July this year, are listed at the end of the unlisted longer YouTube video here at 9:51 - apart from LNER and the hosts at Greater Anglia, there were also Arriva Rail London (who are the London Overground concession operator), c2c, East Midlands Railway, Merseyrail, and West Midlands Railway:

The list of attending organisations starts at 9:35 in the video, and apart from TOCs and emergency services and emergency charities, include rail industry organisations such as the Department for Transport, Network Rail, the Rail Delivery Group (the organisation behind National Rail), and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch. The video description says that there were 200 staff attending.

 

[Steve Harris]

Flying time from Hereford to Huntingdon is a lot longer than 10-15 mins...

Do you mean Hertford ?
As it was reported last night that the Herts/Essex Air ambulance attended. And as Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire.....

Or are you talking about the SAS ?

 

[sh24]

Do you mean Hertford ?
As it was reported last night that the Herts/Essex Air ambulance attended. And as Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire.....

Or are you talking about the SAS ?

Was responding to the comments about special forces above.

 

[Archvile]

So in an instant like this (perhaps some drivers can explain?) emergency button pressed > pax report knifemen on train > driver seeks to stop train at next suitable place where help can be given > just by chance 1Y90 was unusually on the UM (southbound platform side at Huntingdon) and 9J61 had moved off, allowing 1Y90 to make a platform side call at Huntingdon rather than the usual blast through on the UF?

This seems quite lucky in my view. I’ve travelled on this route a lot and it’s unusual for ‘straight through to London’ expresses to be pathed on the ‘slow lines’.

Had this serendipitous incident not occurred where would you have stopped the train if you were the driver?

As someone else said, I wouldn't use the REC... Stops all trains in the cell and potentially delays you getting platformed somewhere suitable.

 

[Scotty]

A friend and I was on the incoming Horsham-Peterborough Thameslink service, that arrived into Peterborough just a few minites after the train in question left - it seems we passed it in the Holme/Connington area so it's scary to think that it was all going on when we zoomed past (wasn't looking out for passing trains at the time, was getting ready to disembark).

 

[ANDREW_D_WEBB]

BBC News has just broadcast a press conference by BTP. Thankfully 4 of those taken to hospital have been discharged. 2 sadly remain in life threatening condition whilst the condition of the other 5 is not mentioned. 11 people required hospital attention (10 taken by ambulance whilst 1 'self presented' later in the evening).

 

[duffield]

BBC News has just broadcast a press conference by BTP. Thankfully 4 of those taken to hospital have been discharged. 2 sadly remain in life threatening condition whilst the condition of the other 5 is not mentioned. 11 people required hospital attention (10 taken by ambulance whilst 1 'self presented' later in the evening).

A couple of other salient points from the press conference: The police say the two suspects were arrested within 8 minutes of the first call, and both are British born.

 

[800001]

As someone else said, I wouldn't use the REC... Stops all trains in the cell and potentially delays you getting platformed somewhere suitable.

Exactly, driver would be fully aware of the implications if they pressed the red button.

They will of used the yellow 'contact signaller' button, and started the conversation with 'This is an emergency call' to signify to the signaller that is a very important call.

 

[AlterEgo]

Edited: only one person is now under arrest

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cm2zvjx1z14t&ved=2ahUKEwjZk_6BidSQAxV0YEEAHWVHNqsQxfQBKAB6BAgIEAE&usg=AOvVaw1cTIEKSAAsTCBO8yrCjAdq

Man, 32, treated as only suspect in train stabbing as staff member in life-threatening condition, police say

Police had originally said one suspect is a Black British national and the other is a British national of Caribbean descent. Both men, aged 32 and 35, were born in the UK.

 

[jon0844]

Not considered a terror incident and two UK nationals, although of course some people will still want to know the names and ethnicity in order to decide how much further interest they have in this story.

I can imagine many X posts being deleted as I speak.

Edit; I see they've now had their ethnicity given too.

 

[KevinBrum12]

8 minutes from those 999 calls (presumably on the train) to stopping it at a place of safety and arresting the suspects is amazing work by the emergency services, the Network Rail signalling centre and the train-crew. Calmness and professionalism.

 

[dk1]

Not considered a terror incident and two UK nationals, although of course some people will still want to know the names and ethnicity in order to decide how much further interest they have in this story.

I can imagine many X posts being deleted as I speak.

Edit; I see they've now had their ethnicity given too.

So much in the way of horrible hatred comments across social media. Ive now stopped even reading anybody else’s opinion as so many are just so politically motivated. It really is showing the downside of modern life where vicious remarks can be voiced to the world in an instant.

 

[sharpener]

Up train just went through BBC shot seemingly on up fast line. They have recently said forensic ppl still picking things up, hopefully not on the adjacent tracks. I was wondering if it was possible to use the two down lines as a two-track railway, does the signalling arrangement support this mode of operation?

 

[Howardh]

8 minutes from those 999 calls (presumably on the train) to stopping it at a place of safety and arresting the suspects is amazing work by the emergency services, the Network Rail signalling centre and the train-crew. Calmness and professionalism.

Layman writing; if the train was at full speed when the calls were made (120mph+??) to actually (a) become aware of what was going on fully (b) contact signallers/controllers/emergency services (c) get the train to slow quickly enough to get off the main line and into a station and stopped within 8 mins seems a remarkable achievement and I presume something that's been thoroughly trained for? As you say, amazing.

 

[dk1]

Up train just went through BBC shot seemingly on up fast line. They have recently said forensic ppl still picking things up, hopefully not on the adjacent tracks. I was wondering if it was possible to use the two down lines as a two-track railway, does the signalling arrangement support this mode of operation?

Delays have been very minimal this morning on the whole. So good to see the ECML back up and running reasonably quickly. Also great news that only two of the nine in a critical condition are now still such and that four have been discharged.