ECML north of Newcastle tonight (03/06) - body hit on line

[Graeme]

The 1820 Newcastle-Morpeth service hit someone on the track near Benton Bridge, just north of Heaton Depot, at around 1825 tonight.

My wife is on the train and reported that there was a "bump", the engines started to sound funny and then the train came to a halt about 200 yards further on.

According to passengers who can hear the driver talking to his controllers, he thought it was "a piece of rubbish lying on the line" but realised it wasn't as he was on top of it. Both engines failed after the impact and the BTP have been informed.

No word yet on when services north of Newcastle on the ECML will resume.

Graeme

 

[Merseysider]

Oh god, that sounds terrible. I imagine the driver would be quite shocked after discovering what the collision was.

Cancellations and delays of up to 60 mins are ongoing; it's worth checking NRE/twitter for those caught up in disruption.

 

[Graeme]

Yes, the passengers probably don't think about the poor driver who doesn't know whether the person was alive or dead when he hit him.

My wife is a fairly calm sort though. She'll know that people are working hard to resume normal operations, and that there's more than one obvious casualty of this sorry affair.

My cousin's boyfriend drives on the Far North Line - he's hit at least one person before, so I'm aware of what effect it can have.

Graeme
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Seems as though the fire brigade are on their way - presumably the passengers are going to be taken off as the engines won't start again, despite a few attempts to try. One of the couplings is bent or damaged so maybe 67021 (the current Thunderbird at Newcastle) may have a bit more difficulty getting to it.

 

[QueensCurve]

The 1820 Newcastle-Morpeth service hit someone on the track near Benton Bridge, just north of Heaton Depot, at around 1825 tonight.

My wife is on the train and reported that there was a "bump", the engines started to sound funny and then the train came to a halt about 200 yards further on.

According to passengers who can hear the driver talking to his controllers, he thought it was "a piece of rubbish lying on the line" but realised it wasn't as he was on top of it. Both engines failed after the impact and the BTP have been informed.

No word yet on when services north of Newcastle on the ECML will resume.

Graeme

Thank you for confirming it was 2A42 1806 Metrocentre to Morpeth.

I had been trying to follow this incident online and had thought it had been 1V71 1708 Edinburgh to Bristol.

Were the pax detrained at Manors?

 

[Graeme]

No, another Pacer was brought to the scene and the fire brigade assisted everyone off and onto this second train. Attempts were made to couple it beforehand but were unsuccessful. The second Pacer took the passengers north to their original destinations of Cramlington and Morpeth. The damaged Pacer was still at the scene when they left.

The casualty was apparently a 20-something male who was sitting cross-legged on the track and made no attempt to move out of the way of the train.

 

[wensley]

Another nasty incident. Hope all involved are as well as can be expected.

The damage to the unit meant things were. Bit more drawn out for passengers on 2A42, but once they had been detrained onto 1Z99 and deposited elsewhere the assisting unit coupled to the failure successfully to clear the line.