A
fatal
head-on
collision


between
two
passenger
trains
in
mid-Wales
may
have
been
caused
by
low
rail
adhesion
due
to
fallen
leaves.

The
trains
collided
last
night
at
Talerddig
at
about
19.30.
They
were
the
18.31
from
Shrewsbury
to
Aberystwyth
and
the
19.09
from
Machynlleth
to
Shrewsbury.

One
man
was
killed
and
15
others
are
reported
to
have
needed
hospital
treatment,
although
their
injuries
are
not
thought
to
have
been
critical.

The
man
who
died
was
a
passenger
on
one
of
the
trains.

Emergency
services
have
been
at
the
scene
all
night,
and
railway
inspectors
from
the
Office
of
Rail
and
Road
have
been
gathering
evidence.
Transport
for
Wales
has
also
launched
its
own
inquiry.
The
Cambrian
line
is
closed
east
of
Machynlleth,
and
replacement
buses
are
running
today.

The
accident
was
close
to
the
Talerddig
passing
loop.
Early
reports
say
one
of
the
trains
did
not
stop
in
the
loop
and
then
collided
with
the
train
approaching
from
the
other
direction.

Anthony
Hurford,
a
passenger
on
the
down
train,
told
the
BBC
he
felt
‘pretty
shellshocked’.

He
continued:
‘The
word
that
keeps
coming
to
my
head
is
just
brutal
really.
Just
going
from,
I
don’t
know
how
fast
we
were
going,
maybe
40,
50,
60
miles
an
hour,
to
nothing
in
the
blink
of
an
eye.

‘Somehow
my
body
bent
the
leg
of
a
table
and
ripped
it
off
its
bolts
attached
to
the
wall.
Suddenly
I
was
on
the
floor
with
my
laptop
strewn
ahead
of
me,
wondering
what
the
hell
had
happened.’

He
said
the
driver
had
tried
to
stop,
but
‘for
whatever
reason
the
train
wouldn’t
stop.’

Fallen
leaves
were
blamed
for
a
side
collision
between
two
trains
on
a
junction
at
one
portal
of
Salisbury
tunnel
on
31
October
2021,
in
which
14
people
were
hurt.
The
last
fatal
accident
involving
passengers
on
a
British
railway
was
the
derailment
of
a
ScotRail
HST
near
Carmont
in
August
2020.

A
fatal
head
on
collision
also
occurred
on
the
Cambrian
line
near
the
former
station
of
Abermule
on
26
January
1921,
in
which
17
lives
were
lost.
The
accident
was
caused
by
a
misunderstanding.
The
inquiry
reported
that
one
of
the
trains
had
been
carrying
the
single
line
tablet
for
the
previous
section.