The Railway Magazine – July 2019

July 2019 •The Railway Magazine•

AROUND 300passengers
became stranded on an East
MidlandsTrains HST for hours
after a diverted train was
engulfed in a landslide, and a
rescue train sent to assist was
stopped by rising flood waters.
What turned into a major
rescue, involving the emergency
services and Network Rail,

300 passengers stranded on HST after

landslide causes ‘major incident’

occurred on June 13 when the

Midland Main Line south from

Leicester and an adjacent road

were closed after a report of a

vulnerable person on a railway

bridge near KnightonTunnel.

It was the first of four incidents

that combined together to

severely disrupt services.

The RMspoke to EMT fleet

director ChrisWright, who

explained what happened.

As a result of the incident in

Leicester, the decision was made

to divert train 1D43, 14.

St Pancras International-

Nottingham.

Many drivers were still fresh

with route knowledge from

diversions via Oakham weeks

previously as a result of track

changes at Market Harborough

(see p88).

MrWright added the move

would also ease the increasing

congestion at Leicester.

As 1D43 was approaching the

south entrance of CorbyTunnel

(1,920 yds) at around 16.00, the

last trailer car and rear power car

were, at that moment, engulfed

in debris from a landslide.

This stranded the train, and

although debris was up to the

sole bar, it was unclear whether

the power car was off the rails.

Network Rail teams dug down to

confirm there was no derailment.

Evacuation

The HST was stranded in a

cutting with no safe route up

a steep bank, and the location

was beginning to flood. It

had been raining heavily, and

investigators are understood to

be focusing their attention on

two large ponds at the top of the

embankment which may have

overflowed and triggered the

landslide (see aerial photo).

The decision was made to

use a diverted southbound HST

(1C52, 13.59 ex- Sheffield) to

enable a side-to-side evacuation,

but as HSTs do not carry a

‘bridge’to connect the two trains,

passengers had to wait until

Network Rail had brought one

to site.

Because the HSTs have hinged

doors, the evacuation could only

take place between the power

car guards compartments, and

this slowed progress.

MrWight said evacuating the

190 passengers started at 18.

and was completed 50 minutes

later.Throughout, the power cars

provided passengers with power,

heating and lighting, plus the

toilets were operational.

With around 300 passengers

on the rescue train, it left the

location at around 19.30 with the

intention of returning to Leicester.

However, with flooding atWing

tunnel (352yds) and water over

the railhead, after discussion with

the driver and a risk assessment,

the decision was made not to

proceed as this might complicate

the situation should the train fail

in the tunnel.

Safe and warm

After discussions with Network

Rail and the BTP a major incident

was declared, and the decision

was made to return back towards

Corby and attempt a lineside

evacuation. While the conditions

on board were far from ideal,

passengers were safe and warm.

Network Rail emergency teams

cut trees and branches from the

top of the cutting in order create

a path and a safe route.

Paramedics and

Northamptonshire fire service

provided assistance and welfare

facilities, with an evacuation

beginning at 21.42.

Buses were provided to take

passengers to Corby, Kettering

and elsewhere. By the time the

final passengers were off the HST

at 23.15, the last southbound

train had left Kettering, so EMT

ranatrainfromEtchesParkto

Kettering to get passengers to

London.

It was on this train the fourth

incident occurred when a

passenger was taken ill at Luton

Airport Parkway and needed

medical attention.The train

finally arrived into St Pancras at

02.30.

Hotels

EMT customer service teams had

booked hotels for passengers,

which Mr Wight explained

proved a difficult task after

midnight.Taxis were also

provided for onward travel as

required.

Mr Wright confirmed RAIB was

onsite during the incident and

the EMT executive team worked

together through its emergency

plan. He said a review would take

place and any learning points

incorporated into future plans.

The HST was recovered the

next day – around five tons

of spoil had been removed by

Network Rail – with power car

No.43043 taken to Neville Hill,

where it was fitted with new

bogies.

The line between Corby and

Manton reopened on June 17.

FURTHER proposals to rebuild
and re-route the Exeter to
Newton Abbot route between
Dawlish and Teignmouth have
been unveiled by Network Rail.
The ambitious plans include
extensive works to protect the
line from cliff falls and landslips,
as well as high seas, around
Parsons Tunnel and Holcombe
Beach.
A 1.8km section of the
railway could be re-routed
over land reclaimed from the
sea to provide space for the

Revisedplansunveiledtoprotectseawallroute

construction of a sloping rock

buttress to stabilise the cliffs and

protect the railway.

Rock falls, landslips and

damage caused by the sea

during extreme weather are

seen as a key threat to the

reliability of this key route.

To protect the realigned

railway from the sea, a rock

revetment or enhanced sea wall

will also be required to absorb

the energy of the waves and

allow the railway to be moved

away from the cliffs.

The proposals also include

improved access, cycling and

walking routes and new amenity

areas for Holcombe Beach.

The line provides the only rail

link between Exeter and the rest

of Devon and Cornwall, and was

closed for six weeks in 2014 after

a landslide blocked the tracks

near Holcombe.

Extreme weather events are

expected to occur more regularly

over the coming decades

because of climate change and

rising seas.

An overview of the incident site showing where the East Midlands
Trains HST became stranded.NETWORK RAIL

Network Rail staff dig power car No. 43043 out from the mud

the day after it was hit by a landslip while working a diverted

Nottingham to St Pancras train, leading to a series of events that

became a major incident.NETWORK RAIL

VALE of Rheidol Railway (VoR) will

unveil a trio of steam locomotives

out of public sight for decades

during its September 14-15 Steam

FestivalWeekend.

Tagged Forgotten Engines 2

this will be the first time Hunslet

0-4-0STNesta(704/1899) has

been seen in public since Robert

Gambrill rescued it from a swamp

in Puerto Rico and repatriated it to

Britain in 2016.

Nestais the last remaining

unrestored ex-Penrhyn slate

quarry Hunslet, and will be in

Wales for the first time since export

to USA in July 1965.

Also on public view for the

first time in Britain will be Borsig

0-4-0WT 20hpType 2 No. 5913 of

1906, bought byVoR in 1994, and

ex-German army trench railways

Maffei-built‘Brigadelok' 0-8-0T

No. 4766 of 1916 (DFB No. 968),

imported byVoR in 2002.

There will be guided workshop

tours to view these‘forgotten'

engines, along with work in

progress on other projects.

Rheidol services will feature all

three of the line's classic 2-6-2Ts

working an intensive six daily

trains timetable; these GWR-built

locos will also be available for

‘driver-for-a-fiver’opportunities

at Aberystwyth. Hunslet 0-4-0ST

Margaretwill offer further‘driver for

a fiver’experiences at Devil’s Bridge.

In addition to showcasing

the railway’s new station at

Aberystwyth, visitors will be able

to view progress on phases 2 and 3

of theWales to theWorld project,

which in due time will include

permanent displays of locomotives

in the railway’s collection.

■See Forgotten Gems feature

on p55.

ValeofRheidolfestivaltoreveal

trio of ‘forgotten’ engines

The proposed changes at Holcombe, where the
railway could be moved away from the cliffs.

Additional sea walls are proposed at Parsons

Tunnel to protect the railway from the sea.

Ponds

Corby Tunnel Entrance

Train ID

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