One person has died and dozens were injured, 11 of them “very seriously”, after two passenger trains collided north of London on Friday, UK emergency services said.
The crash occurred late afternoon near Bedford, a town around 56 miles (90 kilometres) north of the UK capital, and involved two London-bound trains on the same track, according to East Midlands Railway (EMR).
“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,” passenger Pete Knapp told the Press Association news agency.
“I saw a lot of people who were unable to speak, had broken legs,” he added.
In an update nearly five hours after the collision, the East of England Ambulance Service confirmed one person had died at the scene.
“A further 11 people suffered very serious injuries, 22 were seriously injured, and a further 56 people had minor injuries,” it added.
“Those with minor injuries were treated at the scene or taken to hospital where needed.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said it was “hugely concerning” and his thoughts were “with the family of the person who has sadly lost their life, and with those who have been seriously injured”.
“I am grateful to the emergency services for their swift response to this tragic incident.”
– Air ambulances –
Unverified footage posted to social media showed the aftermath of the collision, with passengers pictured walking along the tracks beside the two damaged EMR trains. Some people initially waited in a nearby field.
The trains remained upright largely still on the track, though at least one carriage appeared to have left the rails, according to aerial footage broadcast by news outlets.
Knapp posted images and video on social media platform Bluesky, noting he was “in the front carriage” of one train and “in shock” afterwards.
“I’m ok with bloody legs and back impact. Others are not good,” he added.
Teresa Itabor told the BBC there was “a massive bang” and then her head hit the seat in front.
“I opened my eyes and that’s when I saw people on the floor with blood everywhere,” she said.
An EMR spokesperson confirmed the collision involved two of its trains heading southbound for London St Pancras station.
One service had first departed from Corby while the other originated from Nottingham, both in central England.
EMR trains were “unable to run in or out on London St Pancras for the remainder of this evening,” the statement added.
– Crash investigators on-site –
British Transport Police said a “major incident” had been declared and a multi-agency response at the scene was ongoing.
The ambulance service noted it had dispatched more than 20 ambulances and six air ambulances.
“All patients with the most serious injuries have now been taken from the scene to hospital,” it said.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch, which probes such incidents on UK tramways and railways, said a team of its inspectors was on site “to start gathering evidence”.
Rail expert Tony Miles told Sky News it appeared to have been a “relatively slow-speed collision” and that the damage to the trains looked “fairly minimal”.
But he cautioned “even relatively low speed collisions can be dangerous for people that are on board”.
Train accidents, particularly fatal ones, are relatively rare in Britain.
In September 2023, several people were injured after two trains collided at Aviemore railway station in the Highlands of Scotland.
The crash happened on the Strathspey Railway, a heritage railway run separately from mass-transit public services, and involved a stationary carriage and another train in the station.
In August 2020, an early morning service from Aberdeen to Glasgow came off the tracks, killing three people and injuring six near the town of Stonehaven, northeast Scotland, after a landslip caused by heavy rain.
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