Posted 18th August 2010 | 3 Comments
More than 20 hurt in Suffolk train-tanker collision
A 58-YEAR old man is in a 'serious but stable condition' in hospital after a collision between a train and a sewage tanker at a level crossing close to the Suffolk/Essex border last night.
He is one of three people reported to have been seriously hurt in the incident.
Another passenger was flown to hospital, and it's also feared that the train driver may have fractured vertebrae.
There were some 25 people on board the two-car diesel unit, and 21 others are believed to have been injured to some degree.
The tanker driver, who is 38, has been arrested on suspicion of railway safety offences.
The tank, containing slurry, was split open by the impact at 17.37 last night, when the 17.31 National Express East Anglia service from Sudbury to Marks Tey collided with the lorry at Sewage Works Lane Crossing, between Sudbury and Bures.
Network Rail said that the collision occurred at a user-worked crossing with gates and telephone, but the signaller had not received a phone call asking for permission to cross.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has launched an inquiry.
NXEA managing director Andrew Chivers said: “Our first priority is the welfare of our passengers and traincrew. Our thoughts are with those who are injured and their families.”
Trains are likely to be replaced by buses on the Sudbury branch for several days to come.
Reader Comments:
Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.
Paul, Hastings, Uk
User type cossings are often used incorrectly from what I've both witnessed and heard from reports. I would recommend Network Rail installs some more enforcable instructions at these crossings, the user-type crossings ive seen just give you instruction of what to do. There are no big warning signs or any signs that make drivers think twice about using crossings incorrectly.
A sign saying something like "do not use this crossing unless you have full permission from the signalman" would be very effective in my eyes.
Gary Trinder, Winchester, UK
Surely if the lorry driver has to cross these tracks to get to the Sewage Works he should have been trained how to do this. Will the HSE reprimand the contractor for lack of training/supervision? Although I agree with Patrick's comment that instruction about user-worked level crossings should be mandatory for lorry drivers and some other road users. Is it in the highway code?
Patrick, London, England
Another level crossing incident!!!
Lessons on the proper use of different types of railway level crossings and questions about them in the theory test should be made mandatory for all trainee road drivers.