Salisbury train driver has ‘life-changing injuries’ after two locomotives collided on tracks

A TRAIN driver suffered "life-changing injuries" after two locomotives collided on the tracks in a horror smash in Salisbury.

Passengers aboard the Great Western Rail (GWR) service from Portsmouth Harbour to Bristol Temple Meads were "sitting ducks" when a high-speed intercity service ploughed into them last night.

Of the 92 people onboard both services, 14 were hospitalised.

The rear carriage in the GWR train had come off the rails in the Fisherton Tunnel at around 6.45pm.

It was initially suggested the train had struck an object.

However, during a media briefing hosted by the British Transport Police (BTP), today it was heard there's no evidence of that.

While all other trains within miles should have reportedly been alerted within moments, a South Western Rail service ploughed into the stricken train seven minutes later.

A newborn baby was one of more than 100 people rescued from the crumpled carriages by firefighters.

The driver of the second train, a man in his 70s, was trapped in the wreckage for two hours.

🔵 Read our Salisbury Train Crash live blog for the latest updates

He was airlifted to Southampton General Hospital with life-changing injuries after the emergency services finally managed to cut him free from his mangled cab.

A BTP spokesperson said: "Ninety-two passengers were on both train services.

"Around 30 people attended a casualty centre which was set up in a nearby church, the majority of who were walking wounded and assessed at the scene.

"Thirteen people were taken to hospital by ambulance where they have received treatment for minor injuries. One remains there.  

"Unfortunately, the driver of the train was more seriously injured and his injuries are believed to be life-changing. He also remains in hospital in a stable condition this morning, and his family have been informed."

During a press conference at the hospital in Salisbury today, it was heard that all those on their wards - including two casualties under the age of 18 - are stable.

Most had suffered soft tissue damage caused by falling.

Stacey Hunter, chief executive of Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, said: "We admitted four people.

"Three of them have been able to be discharged today, and none had serious injuries - all what we would describe as minor injuries."

MIRACLE RESCUES

But the mystery over what caused the train to derail in the first place deepened after it was suggested that the carriage didn't hit an object.

Detective Chief Inspector Paul Langley said the crash will have been an "incredibly frightening experience" for those involved.

"Specialist officers and detectives remain on scene in Salisbury and we are working closely alongside the Rail Accident Investigation Branch and the Office of Rail and Road to establish exactly how these two trains came to collide.

"We're keeping an open mind but at this early stage there's been nothing to suggest the train struck an object or that there was any significant delay between the trains colliding and then one derailing."

Rail experts say a major systems error must have taken place for the second train to hit the first.

A senior railway engineer told MailOnline there must have been a "major flaw" that allowed the high-speed inter-city service to smash into the first locomotive.

The anonymous whistleblower said when the Great Western Service derailed, there should be an "automatic obstruction warning" to stop any train from coming within a mile of it.

"There has been a major flaw within the signalling system within Network Rail," he said.

"According to my system, the signalling system was aware seven minutes before impact.

"It should’ve automatically stopped the train. It should’ve automatically set all signals to red. If the driver didn’t see the signal, the system should’ve made the train stop."

MYSTERY CRASH

He said Network Rail has overseen "numerous failures" - and he'd feared such an incident for "two years". 

But this morning, Network Rail's safety and engineering director Martin Frobisher said it's "far too early to speculate" on the cause - as there's a "lot of contradictory information" in the early stages of an investigation.

And the organisation's press office also sent out a statement warning people not to guess at the cause.

"We've had lots of contradictory information about what led to the collision last night but all remains wild speculation until the multi-agency investigations establish the facts," they said.

"Experience has shown us from past incidents that information and speculation in the immediate aftermath of an accident rarely proves to stand up to the rigour of the calm and professional investigation that follows."

Student Callum Stedman, 16, said passengers believed they would die and started calling their parents to tell them that they loved them.

Callum, from Weybridge, Surrey, had been returning to Warminster School after the half term when the incident happened. 

The boarder said: “The train was quite full. I was standing. We felt a jolt and everything went black.

The smoke was the worst part... you thought you'd die

Callum Stedman

“We all landed on each other and the train was at 45 degrees on its side.

“Then lights started coming on from people’s phones and we started looking around, you see people with broken noses and black eyes and blood dripping.

“Some people had bad legs, there was one 17-year-old lad who went to hospital with an injured leg, possibly broken.

“It was just really scary, the smoke was the worst part because you thought it was going to catch fire and you would die.”

Tens of thousands of rail passengers will be hit by problems travelling in the coming days.

Services through the major station will be affected until at least the end of the day on Thursday, National Rail warns.

Passengers using services through the station have been advised not to travel if possible.

All Great Western Railway services connecting Cardiff Central, Bristol Parkway and Bristol Temple Meads with Portsmouth Harbour and Brighton are cancelled.

South Western Railway services between London Waterloo and Yeovil Junction, Exeter St Davids, between Bristol Temple Meads, Yeovil Pen Mill, Castle Cary and Salisbury, and between Salisbury and Southampton Central, have also been hit.

The company has cancelled 110 services today alone, beginning with the 5.10am Exeter St Davids to London Waterloo service, and ending with the 11.40pm Waterloo to Salisbury service.