Posted 3rd February 2012 | 8 Comments
'Substantial damage' caused by Bletchley derailment
(Picture from Network Rail)
NETWORK RAIL has said that the derailment of a light locomotive at Bletchley at about 02.20 this morning caused 'substantial damage' to the track, and that only a partial reopening of the West Coast Main Line can be hoped for today.
The Freightliner locomotive was being leased by Virgin, and was under the control of a Virgin driver. The driver was reported to have needed hospital treatment after the incident. Investigators from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch have completed their initial work on site, allowing Network Rail engineers to begin carrying out repairs to the tracks and overhead lines.
Thousands of passengers are facing long delays, and are being advised to use other routes where they can. Virgin Trains from the north west and Scotland are not running south of Milton Keynes. VT services from Wolverhampton and Birmingham are terminating at Rugby. Most London Midland services from the West Midlands are terminating at Northampton, although a local shuttle is running between Northampton, Wolverton and Milton Keynes, and another special service is running between London and Tring every half hour, calling at principal stations from Watford Junction.
Robin Gisby, who is Network Rail's managing director, network operations, said: "Unfortunately there is quite substantial damage to the tracks and overhead lines following this morning’s incident. Our engineers have been on site since the small hours to assist investigators and are now carrying out repairs to the tracks and overhead lines which have been damaged.
"We hope to have two of the four lines open by the early afternoon, though it is likely that severe disruption will continue for the remainder of the day as we work to repair the more significant damage."
Reader Comments:
Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.
Claydon William, Norwich, Norfolk
A vast majority of railways in this country were originally built by private entreprenuers, funded by private loans from privately owned banks.
In my experience, privately owned and operated companies care much more about the public, than any publically owned one ever dare think of.
If I recall, 'British Rail' never received many complaints, not because there wasn't much to compllain about; but because there was never really much hope in ever getting a response.
Be careful what you wish for ...
Andy, Stoke on Trent
I'm sure the cause of the accident will be revealed/discovered in due course, but in the meantime repairs need to be done. It's an unfortunate set of circumstances, but the disruption that passengers faced was neccessary.
The argument about fares and inflation is a completely different one, which shouldn't be shoehorned into this situation.
Lee, Manchester, England
All drivers have to be 'Passed' to drive all classes of locomotives or muliple units before actually taking control of trains on the mainline. Until such time, drivers who are in training are supervised by a 'Passed' driver. I doubt unfamiliarity with the controls was the problem here, nor do I think it is anything to do with profits. Before passing judgement on this issue I suggest waiting for the Rail Inspectorates report which will look at areas such as technical failure of the locomotive, signalling, points, driver fatigue, illegal substances, etc, etc before suggesting the reason why this incident happened. True it has inconvenienced lots of commuters but coukld have been a lot worse if it had been a Pendolino travelling at 110+mph! That would surely have been on a par with the destruction and potential loss of life that happened at the Harrow and Wealdstone crash.
David Scoular, London, United Kingdom
Please... British Rail locos/trains never crashed or derailed did they... !!! As a long time rail passenger - I don't drive - who was subject to poor timekeeping, filthy trains, cold trains, national strikes and appalling customer service Gary cannot kid me. He should try reading the records. Perhaps, he might start with Clapham in 1988.. I should know.
Michael Turberville, London, UK, EU
Perfect MARKETING and ADVERTISING for HS2 ;) BRILLIANT!
and at exactly the right time :)
sad part of HS2... it will only have ONE up and ONE down line...
it should be built with 2 up and 2 down! Otherwise 10 years after it opens in 2090, it will be out of capacity like the paris to lyon line... but we have myopic politicians who have no real world experience but being millionaires and a life in politics!
Jamie, Culpeper VA, USA
From what I've read I cannot determine what the cause could have been. There are hundreds of possibilities from vandals putting something on the track to a broken rail. The possibilities are almost endless without more information.
Kevin, coventry, United Kingdom
A driver is not allowed to take the controls of neither train nor locomotive until he/she has carried out the correct training and has been assessed as competent.There could be many reasons!
Gary, Maidenhead, england
if you are not fimilure with the contols you should not be in the cab, either the driver made a mistake or the signals were at fault. and yet again it is the travelling public who pay inflation busting prices on cramped trains. Once our railway was a symbol that every other country strived to attain, now it is the butt of all jokes, run by companys who do not care about the public and are in it for the cash only. Time to return the railways to how they were, wil they get their money back i very much doubt it.