IT has been revealed that the Merseyrail train involved in an accident at Kirkby station on 13 March had been travelling at about 42mph (68km/h) shortly before it collided with the buffers at the end of the Northern Line platform. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch says the driver had made an emergency brake application which reduced the speed of the train.

No one was seriously hurt, although the 12 passengers on board complained of minor injuries and were checked at the scene by paramedics. The driver, however, was taken to hospital as what was described as a ‘precaution’.

The train was damaged and partly derailed by the force of the impact, and for a time some third party sources described the incident misleadingly as a ‘derailment’ rather than a collision. Parts of the platform face and coping stones were also damaged, and the station was closed for more than a week so that the train could be removed and the damage repaired. Normal services were resumed on both lines to Kirkby on 22 March.

Investigations by the RAIB and also the Office of Rail and Road into the cause of the collision are continuing.