The UK’s fifth heatwave of the summer has “presented exceptional challenges to the railway”, Network Rail has said, after two trains derailed in less than 24 hours. On Friday, British Transport Police (BTP) confirmed the rear carriages of a Greater Anglia train derailed “in an upright position” at Wickford railway station in Essex, adding that there were no reported injuries. On Thursday, two people were seriously injured when several Southern train carriages left the track near Lewes in East Sussex and ended up on their side, trapping passengers onboard.
Martin Frobisher, the group safety and engineering director at Network Rail, said it was “working quickly to understand the situation and to provide assistance where needed”. He urged people to avoid speculating on the causes of the Wickford and Lewes derailments and said that Network Rail would conduct internal investigations to look at causes and factors. The derailed train in Essex was travelling from Southend to Liverpool Street with about 40 people onboard.
It left Rayleigh at 2.06pm but failed to reach Wickford at 2.11pm as planned. A post on the National Rail website said all lines were closed between Wickford and Southend Victoria. This meant trains running between London Liverpool Street and Southend Victoria were unable to operate.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said on X that it had deployed inspectors to the site to gather evidence. BTP declared a major incident on Thursday afternoon after the derailment near Lewes. About 150 people had been on the service from London Victoria to Eastbourne, which was evacuated.
Two people were taken to major trauma centres with severe injuries. BTP said on Friday the injuries were not deemed to be life-threatening. Southern urged customers planning to travel this weekend to check ahead as significant disruption was expected across parts of the network until further notice.
Trains are expected to be extremely busy, with customers advised to allow at least one extra hour for their journey. Frobisher said: “The unprecedented hot and dry weather that we have experienced this summer has presented exceptional challenges to the railway. In response, we have taken several additional proactive steps to manage and mitigate the impact on the railway, including closely monitoring the temperature of tracks, implementing speed restrictions where it is appropriate to do so, and planning track renewals around high temperatures.” He added: “We will also conduct our own internal investigations, in which we will look at all possible causes and factors.
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