And the images don't show the other end. The MK4s and their couplers could have some damage too, so the whole set will likely need to be inspected and repaired. Even if the damage isn't visible, it could be structural. With the heavy locomotive trailing, I'm worried that could have caused some extra damage.
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Collision with tractor near Leominster (22/05/25)
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Certainly until close of service tonight but disruption into tomorrow seems highly likely.
Everyone is now evacuated from the scene and plans are in place to take the striken rake to Crewe ETD.
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Statements from British Transport Police on X:
BTP timed at 13:56 today said:
BTP timed 16:31 today said:
Mcr Warrior
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Where's the actual location? Presumably it's one of the various user-worked farm crossings on the stretch of line nearing Leominster? The one at Nordan Farm, perhaps, which is about two miles before Leominster for a South Wales bound train?
P.S. Edited for typo.
P.S. Edited for typo.
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Strathclyder
Established Member
A real relief that no serious injuries have resulted from this incident.
The location of said potential derailment, the presence of pointwork able to deflect a train with a derailed bogie and cause the train to topple over and whether or not there's a train approaching from the other direction which is able to stop in time should a crash occur ahead of it are also factors to take into account. Further to the first point, while their root causes were completely different, both the Eschede & Granville disasters in Germany & Australia respectively were made so much worse by derailed carriages striking overbridge supports, bringing the deck down on and crushing carriages.
Since a Mk4 DVT was involved in this incident and with all the above factors in mind, it feels pertinent to mention Great Heck and the fate of 82221. After hitting Gary Hart's car, 221 was derailed sufficently to be deflected by pointwork leading into a nearby goods yard right into the path of 66521 hauling a loaded coal train coming the other way. The closing speed between the two trains (142mph if I recall correctly) and the resulting forces/energy of the collision were enough to utterly obliterate the DVT, severely damage the 66 and kill both drivers instantly. The likelihood of the 91 being derailed in the collision with the car had it been leading the train that morning would've been markedly reduced simply because the 91 is twice as heavy as a DVT - 85 tonnes vs. 43 tonnes - but not eliminated completely. That much I can say without veering headlong into speculative territory.
On balance, the loco at the other end would be preferable to a comparatively lightweight DVT in situations like this. The outcome/accident severity depends on multiple factors, not least of which being the train's speed, the size of the object fouling the line, the amount of reaction time the driver has - it's almost always mere seconds - to apply full emergency braking, the speed at point of impact and whether or not any debris gets caught under the bogies and is able to cause a derailment.
The location of said potential derailment, the presence of pointwork able to deflect a train with a derailed bogie and cause the train to topple over and whether or not there's a train approaching from the other direction which is able to stop in time should a crash occur ahead of it are also factors to take into account. Further to the first point, while their root causes were completely different, both the Eschede & Granville disasters in Germany & Australia respectively were made so much worse by derailed carriages striking overbridge supports, bringing the deck down on and crushing carriages.
Since a Mk4 DVT was involved in this incident and with all the above factors in mind, it feels pertinent to mention Great Heck and the fate of 82221. After hitting Gary Hart's car, 221 was derailed sufficently to be deflected by pointwork leading into a nearby goods yard right into the path of 66521 hauling a loaded coal train coming the other way. The closing speed between the two trains (142mph if I recall correctly) and the resulting forces/energy of the collision were enough to utterly obliterate the DVT, severely damage the 66 and kill both drivers instantly. The likelihood of the 91 being derailed in the collision with the car had it been leading the train that morning would've been markedly reduced simply because the 91 is twice as heavy as a DVT - 85 tonnes vs. 43 tonnes - but not eliminated completely. That much I can say without veering headlong into speculative territory.
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Anonymous10
Established Member
I didn't think there was any news on HD08.
37052 xb mr
Member
All crew sign the the DMUs 197s etc
But they don’t all sign the class 67 locos & coaches
Anonymous10
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Some crews sign mk4s others only 197s to my knowledge.
37052 xb mr
Member
BillStampy
Member
HD08 is being worked on and is expected in service next year I believe. (assuming it keeps to schedule!)
Pete_uk
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Egg Centric
Established Member
Sure I get that, but I interpreted one of the posts as that the crew sign particular mk4 sets, which sounded weird. I will assume I got wrong end of stick unless told otherwise...
37052 xb mr
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Bertiethebobby
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Looks like it was hauling silage as there's some still in it and the adjacent field has been cut. I can imagine that at this time of the year there would be extremely frequent crossings of the line as those trailers fill up very quickly. Must be a significant challenge for the signaller trying to keep track of all the movements. I'm assuming the crossing doesn't have the little red and green lights?
Sir Felix Pole
Established Member
There seems to be an unusually high incidence on this line of this type of event - is it just the sheer number of crossings, inadequate signalling / protection, poor sighting or particularly impatient farmers? Or all four?
Thank goodness there were not more people injured and no serious injuries. Thats the main thing.
The MK4's often get put to bed in the event of disruption especially when its unplanned. i.e an accident or bad weather. I imagine if they ran them Manchester-Shrews and Hereford to Cardiff there is the risk they could up in the wrong place or train crew who dont sign them could be allocated. Hopefully the 197s can cope until normal service resumes.
The MK4's often get put to bed in the event of disruption especially when its unplanned. i.e an accident or bad weather. I imagine if they ran them Manchester-Shrews and Hereford to Cardiff there is the risk they could up in the wrong place or train crew who dont sign them could be allocated. Hopefully the 197s can cope until normal service resumes.
Mcr Warrior
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Nordan Farm crossing near Leominster seems to be a private user worked crossing with telephone, gate and stop notices. Lots of trains on this section of line at line speeds of up to 90 m.p.h.
Welshguy1048
Member
It now says on the the BBC news story - that a 32 year old man from Bromyard has been arrested of endangering safety on the railway
www.bbc.co.uk
Dave
Leominster rail crash: Man arrested after train hits tractor and trailer
Two people are taken to hospital following the crash near Leominster.
www.bbc.co.uk
Dave
On suspicion* the actual cause is still unknown (certainly not a topic that should be speculated here), and the farmer could well be innocent.
User work crossings have certain rules to keep the railway flowing safely.
Anything that takes longer than 3 minutes to cross or is long, low, slow such as a vehicle with a trailer requires signal protection. The signaller then MUST have a call back once the person has crossed the line before they clear the signals.
The issue with this time of year is the crossings are constantly used by farmers who are under alot of time pressure to get things down. Unfortunately, there are those who do not call and cross themselves without calling the signaller.
The reason for the collision is probably;
1. Signaller has not provided signal protection and given farmer permission to cross or cleared the protection early without the call back.
2. Driver has passed the protecting signal at danger
3. Farmer has crossed without permission.
Based on the news article it is most likely scenario 3.
Snow1964
Established Member
There is a short drone video, confusingly the second half appears to be a repeat with left-right transposed (which makes it look like it was running wrong line)
Iddybiddy05
Member
Wales and Borders route mandates ALL crossing have a call back and signal protection.
contrex
Member
Not forgetting Lewisham in 1957, when Battle of Britain class 34066 ran into an emu and its tender derailed and brought down a bridge onto two coaches of its train, crushing them.
How far from the crossing has it ended up?
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LYradial
Member
A drone view shows the rear of the train still on the crossing, the railway appears quite straight there so maybe the train driver had seen the tractor and was already braking
eisenach
Member
This is not far from Leominster; about 2 miles according to OS. The train would already have been slowing as it was due to call at Leominster. If it had been a non-caller, the results don't bear thinking about.
WirralLine
Member
According to an internal source a specialist crane is required to remove the trailer and isn't expected until tomorrow morning at the earliest.
Mcr Warrior
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So, perhaps just over a hundred metres, or maybe a little bit more, looking at the aerial photo in post #56, as posted by @SuperS16v.
Iddybiddy05
Member
The internal source is correct…1Z99 with crane went up late last night.
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