John

A Virgin train has derailed and slid down an embankment in Cumbria.

Nine carriages were left on their side, with some "stuck up in the air", passengers said. Fire crews said it was thought there were "numerous injuries".
The tilting train, the 1715 GMT service from London's Euston Station to Glasgow Central, came off the rails at Grayrigg Cottage in the Lake District.

Passenger Caroline Thomson, a BBC executive, said the train seemed to hit something and was lying on its side.

RAF helicopters, police and fire crews have been sent to the scene of collision, between Oxenholme and Tebay.
Cumbria Ambulance Service said six to eight people are feared to trapped in one of the train's carriages.

Ms Thomson said: the train "did a sort of bump - and I was thinking don't worry this fine - but then the swaying became very dramatic.
"It suddenly appeared to hit something and then lurched very, very badly from side to side in a very dramatic way. This a very scary experience."
The Pendolino tilting trains, which are built in Italy, have been introduced by Virgin over the last three years and have a top speed of 125 mph.

'Off the track'


Another passenger, Ruth Colton, said: "I was just reading a book and it started to get really bumpy like we were being battered by heavy winds or something and then suddenly the carriage flipped over.
"Pretty much all of the carriages are off the track.
"The train seems to have fallen down an embankment and rolled...
"There's some carriages stuck up in the air and some are just lying on their sides. We all had to climb out the top of one of ours".



(BBC News)

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John

An elderly woman has been killed and several passengers injured after a high-speed train derailed in Cumbria.


The woman who died was among 22 people who were taken to hospital following the incident


The Virgin tilting pendolino crashed near Kendal as it was travelling from London to Glasgow.


All nine carriages were said to have come off the tracks before falling down an embankment.


The cause of the derailment remains unclear as officials continue to investigate. Supt Jon Rush, from Cumbria Police, told a press conference: "We have got people from the Rail Investigation Branch working with our colleagues from the British Transport Police and obviously the fire and rescue service looking at the site and trying to ascertain the reasons why the train has come off the track."


He continued: "The initial estimate is that the likelihood is that the line will be closed for five or six days while they make the recovery."
Mr Rush said police were still working to identify the dead woman and would be contacting her family.


He added that five "very seriously" injured people are still at Royal Preston Hospital and Royal Lancaster Infirmary. Seven people were at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh with less serious injuries.


Virgin Trains regional director Chris Coleman said: "Our services use high powered trains and they are very safe and a speed of 95mph at that point on the line is what it should be doing.


"Ordinarily that is very safe. We are shocked and very keen to find out how at that speed this train has come off the track in such tragic circumstances."


He added: "Of course our first thoughts are with the families and loved ones of those who have lost their lives or been injured in this terrible accident."
He said the firm would do whatever it could to help find out the cause of the accident.


An emergency telephone number had been set up for worried family and friends of the passengers. It is 0800 056 0146 or, from outside the UK, 0044 207 158 0198.



(ITN)

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