The driver of one of two trains involved in a crash has suffered injuries believed to be “life-changing”, police have said.
Passengers described being thrown from their seats when the Great Western and South Western Railway services crashed in Salisbury on Sunday evening.
British Transport Police (BTP) said a driver was in hospital in a stable condition.
A total of 14 people were taken to hospital and treated for minor injures.
A carriage was initially thought to have derailed after hitting an object, and the second train then crashed into it when signalling was damaged.
However in a press conference on Monday afternoon, Supt Lisa Garrett, of BTP, said “at this early stage, there was nothing to suggest” the train had struck an object before derailing.
I’m wondering if after all that torrential rain that fell over a couple of hours, if part of the tunnel roof collapsed. I’ve never experienced rain like it and I’m not a youngster.
Well that’s what I thought, LD…but now seemingly there wasn’t anything on the tracks. Unless the rails were slippy? But even so…they have rail guys walking the track to check these things, so…who knows. The poor driver though
However in a press conference on Monday afternoon, Supt Lisa Garrett, of BTP, said "at this early stage, there was nothing to suggest" the train had struck an object before derailing.
That is a very telling and troubling statement IMHO.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle said it best:
When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth
So if it didn’t hit anything , then it just derailed, and that is scarier than hitting something, but as you said truth will out.
Heck yeah…I’d say so! Although (probably not likely in this case) there have been instances of youths throwing things from bridges with the aim of hitting a train Imbeciles…
I feel so sorry for the poor driver and passengers, I hope they all make a full recovery, it must have been very scary.
But whatever de-railed the first train the most scary part for us train users is that the signals system failed and didn’t turn red to stop the second train crashing into the back of it.They are talking about a major systems failure.
I travel on GWR and they can be very careless and things are always breaking down and going wrong. My train pulled out from the station through an orange signal last week and I’ve often been on trains that stop too short the doors aren’t over the platform so there’s a six foot drop from the door and you have to walk through the train to get off. Their customer service is dreadful.
They really can be very casual over passenger safety so I hope there’s a thorough investigation into why the signal system didn’t stop the second train and it doesn’t just get covered up.
Commuters and residents have faced major disruption since two trains collided on the approach to Fisherton Tunnel near Salisbury on 31 October.
Repairs and safety checks have now been completed, allowing a full service to resume on Tuesday morning.
The line was closed for 16 days to allow rail authorities to investigate, remove the damaged carriages and repair tracks.
Almost 1,500 sleepers have been replaced, around 1,000 yards of new track has been laid and signalling equipment and points have been repaired.
SWR driver Mr Tandy was praised by the operator for “acting impeccably” to keep passengers safe.
Managing director Claire Mann said Mr Tandy was being looked after very well in hospital and it was hoped he would make a full recovery. She said: “We cant pre-empt what the investigation will conclude but the initial findings showed low rail adhesion, so the contact between the rail and the wheel was difficult on this day. So before reopening today there have been some extra water-jetting and leaf-busting trains that Network Rail have run to ensure that it’s as safe as possible.”
Although (probably not likely in this case) there have been instances of youths throwing things from bridges with the aim of hitting a train 
Imbeciles…