Investigation begins into train derailment
AN INVESTIGATION into the cause of a train derailment on an East Midlands Trains service on Saturday is now underway.
There was a mechanical failure involving the 2.44pm from St Pancras to Sheffield train at East Langton, north of Market Harborough, which caused the train's wheels to leave the track.
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The derailed train at Market Harborough has caused major delays for Notts passengers.
A spokeswoman for East Midlands Trains said: "We are carrying out a full and thorough investigation into the train incident at East Langton at the weekend and are also co-operating fully with the independent work of the Rail Accident Investigation Branch.
"We would like to apologise to our customers who were affected by the initial incident and to those customers who are being inconvenienced while we work with Network Rail to ensure normal services can resume as soon as possible.
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"From our initial inquiries, we can confirm that two of the 56 wheels on the seven-car Meridian train became derailed.
"However, all carriages on the train remained on the tracks as normal and the train remained upright at all times.
"Our safety procedures in managing the response to the incident were deployed effectively and we would like to commend the driver for ensuring the train was brought to a standstill safely.
"Safety is our absolute priority and we have been working very closely with the train manufacturer Bombardier as part of our continuing detailed technical investigation into the underlying cause of the wheel failure.
"As a precaution, a number of immediate safety checks were carried out on the rest of the Meridian fleet. No other train been identified as having a similar fault."
It is believed just one person suffered a minor ankle injury, but refused treatment.
The train – one of the most modern trains in the fleet – was lifted from the scene at about 10pm on Sunday and Network Rail is carrying out urgent track repairs.
A revised service to London is being operated by East Midlands Trains, with one service an hour running instead of two.
This will be diverted via Manton, adding up to 45 minutes to the journey. Services are expected to return to normal on Wednesday.
The spokeswoman said: "We are advising passengers that services are going to be extremely busy so if people choose not to travel they can use their ticket later this week or get a refund.
"We would like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding while we operate a significantly reduced timetable. We expect to resume a full normal mainline service to and from London on Wednesday."
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