Report of collision Bedford (Elstow) - 19/06/26

[mickey]

Would the helicopters deal with the residual injured if all serious injuries dealt with, or would they go and do something else?

Depends what else is going on. If there’s no other incident and they can still be useful, the teams would likely stay. But particularly those who travelled quite far would likely be sent back to their own patch fairly soon if deemed non-critical. Helimed teams rarely treat small injuries, that’s best handled by local teams.

 

[Markuk]

One just passed over south northants heading in the direction of Coventry. Took off from the location in the pic

 

[D1511]

Saw one air ambulance go overhead and land 5 mins or so ago. The second is now waiting for the helicopter landing pad to clear. First time I've ever seen congestion in the air for the air ambulances here, just showing how serious it has been

Eyewitness reports say that emergency services were sorting people into groups on the roadside based on their injuries, and there was a number of people in the 'life threatening injury' group, who are presumably those being airlifted out now.
Thoughts and prayers for them.......

 

[357]

Based on the photos seen of both units, which one is in worse condition?

The 360 in my opinion

 

[Nicholas Lewis]

With the RAIB investigating, examining and collecting evidence at the location and at signalling centres etc, I'm thinking it may not be possible to run even a restricted service past the scene for some time, perhaps even a matter of days.

I'm not experienced in rail investigations so would be pleased to hear from suitably qualified persons to comment.

With thoughts and best wishes to all those involved or affected in any way.

The signalling has to be all left as it was at time of incident. Not sure if Bedford has been resignalled with SSI given the changes its experienced to track layout since original resignalling in early 1980's. If its still a relay interlocking that will take sometime to check through to understand the state of all the relays, track circuits and point detection although most signalling now have an element of data recording which may make things quicker. At the panel end it was relocked on to a VDU based control a few years back but still based at West Hampstead so that will be digitised. It may also now have ARS.

The trains have OTMDRs which are boon to investigators today as they will record driver actions as well as what AWS warnings were received by train. Not sure if the 360's have forward facing cameras again another massive help to the investigators if they do.

Would imagine they will need the site for at least 24hrs before recovery can start and then it depends if they need heavy lifting to get vehicles removed or they can be hauled away.

 

[ainsworth74]

Again, please this is a very upsetting incident so it would be appreciated if members remembered the Forum Rules and were respectful and kind in their contributions rather than biting and sarcastic. Think before you post please.

If you think a post (or several) please report the post rather than replying on this thread. It makes even more work for me to try and keep this show on the road dealing with all your replies and the original post.

 

[Welshy1717]

The poor driver in the Parkway Express, those 360 units need redesigning. the intercity 222 & 810 cabs are set back and the cab has the nose cone in front of the cab for emergency impact collisions.

 

[Unixman]

The Times is reporting that sadly there has been a fatality.

 

[fkofilee]

Bedford train crash: Driver believed dead after collision — as it happened

Bedford train crash latest news as multiple injuries reported from collision of two East Midlands Railway services near Luton

www.thetimes.com

Sad times...

Bedford train crash live: Driver believed dead after East Midlands collision​

Emergency services are attending the scene amid reports of multiple injuries as all services out of London St Pancras are blocked by the crashed trains​

 

[720144]

Thoughts go out to all.

 

[Markuk]

View attachment 206297
One just passed over south northants heading in the direction of Coventry. Took off from the location in the pic

Currently still in the air over Birmingham

 

[QSK19]

The poor driver in the Parkway Express, those 360 units need redesigning. the intercity 222 & 810 cabs are set back and the cab has the nose cone in front of the cab for emergency impact collisions.

AIUI, given that the 360s run at max 110mph, they don’t need the pointy noses.

Nevertheless, as others have said, a huge tragedy and thoughts with all those affected.

 

[43096]

The report from one of the passengers on the BBC News website refers to seats flying everywhere. Obviously there will be a limit to this depending upon the nature and degree of the incident, but to what degree are train seats designed and secured to stay in place following an impact?

They are designed to withstand heavy forces in a collision, but there comes a point where the force exerted overcomes the shear load of things like the bolts attaching them to the vehicle.

 

[Steddenm]

Thoughts are with everybody involved, and those at EMR this evening at Control, customer services and on platforms.

Fingers crossed the message from The Times and "believed" is all it is.

 

[QSK19]

'reporting' without confirmation. They state 'believed'.

Why do they not wait for official confirmation.

Unfortunately, due many people’s insatiable appetite for hearing something dramatic immediately - even if it’s not correct.

 

[810013]

post on X from someone on the 810

I was on the front intercity, we slowed and stopped fairly suddenly. While stopped the connect train went into the back of us

Alex Knight (@aktheknight) on X

@ChimeWhistle I was on the front intercity, we slowed and stopped fairly suddenly. While stopped the connect train went into the back of us

x.com

 

[QSK19]

Thoughts are with everybody involved, and those at EMR this evening at Control, customer services and on platforms.

Fingers crossed the message from The Times and "believed" is all it is.

A very, very good point. Those people are almost always disregarded when considering who fits within the definition of “those affected”. They are very much within that definition and it’ll be a very difficult time for them.

 

[Larcombius]

Eyewitness reports say that emergency services were sorting people into groups on the roadside based on their injuries, and there was a number of people in the 'life threatening injury' group, who are presumably those being airlifted out now.
Thoughts and prayers for them.......

Indeed thoughts for them. Seen second air ambulance leave Addenbrookes now, but a third looks to be on the way. Only consolation is that both air ambulances haven't gone straight back to Bedford. The London Air Ambulance went to Cambridge airport, the east Anglia air ambulance is heading east

 

[LowLevel]

A very, very good point. Those people are almost always disregarded when considering who fits within the definition of “those affected”. They are very much within that definition and it’ll be a very difficult time for them.

It's fair to say EMR isn't a huge company and frontline and control staff are well known to each other - there will be plenty of respect both ways for each others experiences and feelings regarding the matter.

 

[8ace]

Terrible news a person died doing their job serving the public. Thoughts go to their loved ones.

 

[ainsworth74]

It would be appreciated if we could avoid speculation as to the cause of this horrible incident at this point in time. There is very little information as to what may have gone wrong so far and the incident is still being recovered so it feels a little to early for speculation at this point. Thanks.

 

[GRALISTAIR]

Philip Haigh on an interview on Sky. Cathy Newman (the presenter) has had the decency to ask "just how safe are UK railways" - which is an easy response for the industry. I hope everything works out here. I fear for the handling of stranded passengers on powerless trains - it could be a long evening.

Yes I saw that and he replied amongst the safest in the world. Correct response. Well done.

 

[StephenHunter]

Eyewitness reports say that emergency services were sorting people into groups on the roadside based on their injuries, and there was a number of people in the 'life threatening injury' group, who are presumably those being airlifted out now.
Thoughts and prayers for them.......

Standard triage procedure in a mass casualty incident. They train for this on a regular basis.

 

[ainsworth74]

Please see this thread for journey planning and service updates in relation to the MML for today and the coming days.

 

[Chriso]

Truly shocking. Thinking of all involved and the railway family tonight

 

[ainsworth74]

Okay I think we can probably leave the air ambulance considerations there please for this thread. Feel free to discuss further in the Aviation sub-forum however!

 

[InvernessTMD]

Truly awful accident, thoughts with all affected

 

[fgwrich]

Standard triage procedure in a mass casualty incident. They train for this on a regular basis.

Correct. I may post it when I start my shift later if anyone is interested, but depending on the outcome of this (for the purposes of respectfulness).

 

[brad465]

Very shocking and sad incident to come home this evening to see.

 

[brad465]

Here's a picture looking north (I think) towards the scene of the collision, courtesy of the BBC Live feed:

Nine people in critical condition among 100 injured in fatal collision

A driver was killed in the collision between the 16:40 train from Corby and 15:50 service from Nottingham on Friday.

www.bbc.co.uk

(Image of the crash scene looking north, with class 810 front visible in the middleground just north of a signal gantry)