Four days after the tragic collision, a huge crane began to remove the wreckage of the trains from the rails.
A South Western Railway train slammed into a stationary Great Western Rail service in the Fisherton Tunnel at 6.45pm on Sunday, causing both locomotives to derail and injuring dozens of people, investigators said in a preliminary report into the crash.
Network Rail has posted images to Twitter showing a large crane at the scene and removing the wreckage. Network Rail stated that the removal of the carriages will take several days because it is a huge operation.
Network Rail used a crane and four large red ropes to lift the first carriage off the track. It was then loaded onto a truck and taken away. Another carriage is scheduled to be removed on Thursday.
Since the incident, the A30 London Road section between St Mark’s Avenue (Barrington Road) has been closed. It will remain closed until Friday.
Network Rail spokeswoman said that investigators had returned the accident site to Network Rail and that they will begin the process of removing trains, assessing damage, and planning repairs. Although it is too early for us to predict how long the work will take, we are able to confirm that the railway surrounding Salisbury will remain closed until at most Monday November 15.
They stated that the actual lifting and dismantling of the train carriages would take several days. The crane site would then need to be demolished and the crane site taken down to give London Road and its allotments their space back.
Network Rail also said that it was investigating the possibility to lay new track in Fisherton Tunnel. More information will be available later in this week.
According to the Rail Accident Investigation Branch Robin Tandy, a 74-year old driver of the SWR train tried to apply the brakes just before reaching the stop signal.
Despite the driver and the train’s automated protection system asking for emergency breaking, the train did not stop until it reached Fisherton Tunnel. The train then crashed into a GWR station. The train then smashed into a stationary GWR service.
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Four days after the tragic collision, a huge crane began to remove the wreckage of the trains from the rails.
Network Rail posted images today to Twitter showing a huge crane at the site of the crash.
Since the incident, the section of A30 London Road between St Mark’s Avenue & Barrington Road has been closed. It will remain so until Friday
At 6.45pm, a South Western Railway train collided with a stationary Great Western Rail service in Fisherton Tunnel. The collision caused both locomotives to go off-track and injured dozens of people, investigators stated in a preliminary report.
Driver of train was left with ‘life-changing injuries’.
The hero train driver who averted tragedy in Sunday night’s rail collision at Salisbury is a 74-year-old veteran with years of rail driving experience, MailOnline can reveal.
Robin Tandy only had six seconds to react and apply emergency brakes, before he jumped out of the driver’s cab and ran away as his train collided in a tunnel.
Robin Tandy, a Hero Train driver, was able to avoid tragedy at Salisbury’s rail collision on Sunday night. He is a veteran rail driver with many years of experience. MailOnline can reveal.
Miraculously, no one was killed and Mr Tandy’s quick-thinking actions have been hailed by colleagues for preventing a high number of casualties and deaths following the accident.
However, it was a costly decision for him as he was flown to University Hospital Southampton with what police called ‘life-changing injuries’.
Investigators have stated that they will investigate how Network Rail managed the risk to ‘low-wheel/rail adhesion’ in the area of the collision.
It was determined that one train was ‘almost certain’ to have been affected by low adhesion between the tracks and the wheels, which meant it could not stop at a red light.
According to the Rail Safety Standards Board, low adhesion can be caused when ‘contaminants’ are present on the track. This is especially common in autumn and can affect a train’s ability stop. The problem can be particularly severe in autumn because leaves can fall onto the tracks. The leaves created a thin layer of slippery material that can create a similar effect to black ice on roads.
It makes trains less efficient at braking and acceleration, so some operators create special autumn timetables to give trains more time to drive cautiously.
Martin Frobisher (Network Rail’s safety-and-engineering director) stated Tuesday night that the issue “affects railways around the world”.
He said that the industry bodies work hard to combat the annual problem so that trains can be run safely and reliably through autumn.
The RAIB also stated that it will review Network Rail’s and SWR’s general policies regarding the issue.
There were 92 passengers on each train when they collided just outside Salisbury City Centre.
Thirty-three passengers were at a nearby casualty center, where 13 of them were taken to the hospital for minor injuries.
Fearful passengers called their loved ones to say goodbye, as they feared they would die.
According to police, Mr Tandy has suffered ‘life-changing’ injuries.
Claire Mann, SWR managing director, stated that the driver, who is still being treated in hospital, “reacted correctly to the signals by brake to slow down the train down”.
She said that she believed his actions prevented a more serious incident. We wish him a speedy recovery.
According to the rail operator, Mr Tandy has ‘over 50 years of experience driving on this route’ and ‘a great professional track record.
A statement stated that all drivers undergo regular assessments to ensure they are up-to-date and that any injured driver meets all requirements. The UK does not have a retirement age for train drivers. Drivers can retain their licence as long they pass regular competency and medical assessments.
Cameron Thrower was one of the passengers who was involved in the collision and described the ‘extremely terrifying’ moment he was ‘thrown’ onto a concrete floor following the train crash.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast from his home in Dorset, he said: ‘The next thing I know there’s just an almighty noise, I’m being thrown about the joiner carriage. Worst, I look behind me to see a huge explosion of sparks and fire outside.
“And the next thing that I know, I’m just in darkness on the floor, wondering what’s happening and realising that it’s not all as it should be. It was very scary at that moment.
“Even in this terrible time, the first thing everyone did was make sure their fellow man was okay, making sure that everyone else was well, making sure that no one was hurt, and that they were getting any help that we could offer them.
Another passenger, Dimitri Popa from Romania, was travelling on the train from London to Sherborne when the terrifying crash occurred. The 17-year old said that it all happened so quickly. I was only sitting in the first carriage when there was a massive crash.
“Then I saw the flames, and got really scared, and all the lights went off. The carriage was 45 degrees to the left. We didn’t know anything or where we were… we were all so stunned.
Others reported hearing a sound “like a bomb going off” as the crash, which was one of the most severe in recent years on UK rail networks, occurred.
Angela Mattingly, a passenger on the SWR train, stated that everything went black and there were flashes of red and everything.
“Suddenly there was a lot more jostling, possessions were being thrown around and I believe a few people went forward to hit their heads.
“You don’t know what’s going on for a few seconds.” People panicked, but no one was seriously hurt.
Tamar Vellacott was walking along with her children about half a block from the crash site when they heard the crash.
The 25-year old said that it was a strange noise, and my young children panicked thinking it was a bomb. We suggested that a lorry had crashed onto the London Road and not panic.
The major junction of two lines approaching Salisbury from the south or from the west is Fisherton Tunnel.
Firstly the 5.08pm Great Western Rail service from Portsmouth Harbour to Bristol Temple Meads, which entered the junction from the south, is said to have hit an object in the tunnel – possibly material that fell from the tunnel roof, sources said – and the rear carriage derailed.
The train was due to arrive in Salisbury at 6 :28pm, but bad weather caused delays across the rail network.
Seven minutes later, the 5.20pm SWR train that ran from London Waterloo in England to Honiton in Devon arrived at the junction from the East. It was due to arrive at Salisbury at 6.47pm.
For some reason signals had not alerted the driver of the obstruction – or had failed to stop his train if he missed the red lights.
The SWR train crashed into a GWR service station inside the tunnel. The train then derails itself and skids along its inner tunnel at 45 degrees. The tunnel wall apparently held it up.
The driver was trapped in the mangled cab and had to be freed from his captivity by emergency workers. Only the last carriage was able to stand upright.
British Transport Police Detective Chief Inspector Paul Langley stated: “This will no doubt be an incredibly frightening event for all those involved. Our thoughts are with them today.
Salisbury has a number of’specialist officers and detectives still on the ground. We are working closely together with the Rail Accident Investigation Branch and the Office of Rail and Road, to find out how these trains collided.
“We are keeping an open eye, but at this early stage, there hasn’t been anything to suggest that the train struck something or that there was any delay between them colliding and then one derailing.”
Services through Salisbury will be disrupted until Monday, November 8, at the latest.