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King Charles has paid tribute after two trains collided between Bedford and Luton yesterday, killing the train driver and injuring 89 others.
The 4.40pm train from Corby to London St Pancras crashed into the 3.50pm Nottingham to London St Pancras service at 5.15pm yesterday.
At least 89 people were hurt in the smash, including 11 with life-threatening injuries; 22 people, less gravely hurt; and 56 others had minor injuries.
The King is ‘greatly saddened’ by the crash and ‘his thoughts and sympathies are with the family of the deceased and with all those injured or affected by such a tragic incident’, Buckingham Palace said today.
Will Rogers, Managing Director for East Midlands Railway, which operated the trains, said: ‘Our thoughts and condolences are with their family, friends and colleagues, as well as everyone else affected by this incident.
‘We are continuing to work closely with Network Rail and the emergency services.’
Eddie Dempsey, general secretary of the RMT, which represents train drivers, added on X: ‘We are devastated to learn that a train driver and former RMT rep has tragically died as a result of today’s crash between Luton and Bedford.
‘The thoughts of RMT are with their family, friends, colleagues and the ASLEF trade union at this awful time.’
The cause of the crash is unknown. Insiders told The Telegraph that the EMR train stopped owing to a fault with the Automatic Warning System, a safety system that stops trains when they pass red signals.
The train driver, according to the newspaper, was on the phone with maintenance staff reporting the fault when train crash happened.
Train describer data from Open Train Times shows that the trains were on different tracks until after Bedford.