A train driver has been arrested after ‘testing positive for cocaine’ when he crashed a commuter train through the buffers in north London and left two people injured.
The 39-year-old, from Essex, who has not been named, crashed the eight-carriage London Overground train earlier this month at Enfield Town Station in the north of the capital, at around 8.15am. It had left Liverpool Street at 7.45am.
He was a ‘experienced’ driver but during a routine blood test it was alleged that traces were of cocaine.
The eight-carry London Overground train (Pictured), was derailment at Enfield Town Station in London’s north at 8.15am. The driver was arrested Tuesday after testing positive for cocaine.
The Essex 39-year-old, who has not been identified, was thought to be an experienced driver. However, during routine blood tests, it was alleged that traces cocaine were found
Station Commander Jim O’Neill was present at the scene and stated that the train had “hit the buffers at station, which are at the end of line, and gone over the top.” (Pictured).
A source told The Sun that the incident was extremely serious and caused shock among his colleagues.
“Luckily, by the time that the train reached the buffers, it had slowed and somehow managed to stay upright.
Police arrested the driver Tuesday. ‘On suspicion of endangering railway safety and being unfit for work on a transport network through drink or drugs’.
He has been released on bail and will be out until November 19. His employers, Arriva Rail London, believe that he was suspended from his bail.
At the time, the driver was said be in shock and that two people were being treated for minor injuries.
A British Transport Police spokesperson said that at the time of the incident, officers were called to Enfield Town at 8.20am after reports of a train hitting buffer stops at the station.
Paramedics were on the scene and checked the health of the driver and the two others. As usual, the driver was breathalysed and blew a negative. We are still on the scene as enquiries continue.
Rory O’Neill from TfL’s London Overground general manager described the incident as a ‘low speed collision with a buffer’. He also stated that an investigation will be conducted ‘to determine how this happened’.
Ellie Burrows is Network Rail’s route director in Anglia. She said that a train struck the buffer stops at Enfield Town at a slow speed at 8.20am.
“The driver is being treated in shock and there are reports that he has suffered minor injuries.”
Section 27 of the Transport and Works Act 1992 provides that a driver could be sentenced to up to six months imprisonment and/or an unspecified fine for being impaired by the consumption of drugs or drink.