Eight-Carriage London to Eastbourne Service Leaves Tracks in East Sussex
A major emergency response was launched in East Sussex on Thursday afternoon after an eight-carriage passenger train travelling from London Victoria to Eastbourne derailed near Lewes, leaving several coaches overturned and passengers scrambling to safety.
At 7:03pm on Thursday 13 August, Britiah Transport Police confirmed that two people have sustained serious injuries and a further nine people have suffered less serious injuries in the Lewes derailment. Some of those injured have been taken to local hospitals.
The Southern Railway service had departed London Victoria at 2.24pm and was travelling south towards Eastbourne when the derailment occurred at about 3.50pm between Cooksbridge and Lewes. Three of the train’s eight carriages are understood to have left the rails, with photographs from the scene showing at least two coaches lying on their sides.
Emergency services, including British Transport Police, paramedics and East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, were called to the scene shortly before 4pm. A large emergency operation followed as passengers were helped from the damaged train and away from the railway.
Passengers Describe Violent Movement as Train Derailed
Passengers have described a sudden and frightening sequence of events as the train began rocking before leaving the tracks.
One passenger, Rob Bradley, who was travelling with his six-year-old daughter, described feeling the train begin to rock before his carriage suddenly jumped upwards. The emergency brakes were then applied, throwing bags and other possessions forward inside the carriage.
Bradley said smoke and dust subsequently entered the train from the rear. He and his daughter escaped injury, but he reported seeing other passengers being treated by ambulance crews for head wounds and cuts.
Early reports suggesting that dozens of people might have been trapped caused considerable concern in the first stages of the emergency. However, by early evening there were no confirmed fatalities, while reports from the scene indicated that passengers had been successfully evacuated from the train. No official figure for the total number of injured people had yet been released.
Investigation Begins Into Cause of Crash
Attention is now turning to why the train left the rails.
Photographs taken at the scene appear to show sections of distorted or buckled track, while temperatures in East Sussex had climbed above 30C during another period of exceptionally hot weather. High temperatures can cause steel railway lines to expand, and Network Rail routinely imposes precautions and speed restrictions where there is a risk of rails becoming distorted.
However, investigators have not yet established whether heat or a track defect caused Thursday’s derailment. It is equally important at this stage not to assume that visible damage to the railway preceded the accident, since rails and sleepers can themselves be badly distorted by a train leaving the track.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has confirmed that investigators are being deployed to the scene. Their work is expected to examine the condition of the track, the train, signalling and other railway infrastructure, together with data recorded aboard the train.
Emergency Services Descend on Railway
The scale of the derailment prompted a substantial response involving police, fire and ambulance crews. Images from the area showed emergency workers around the overturned coaches while passengers were escorted away from the railway.
One particular danger following a derailment on this part of the Southern network is the electrified third rail which supplies power to trains. Electrical supplies around the affected section therefore had to be made safe before emergency personnel and passengers could move freely around the railway.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was deeply concerned by reports of the derailment and thanked emergency services working at the scene. Lewes MP James MacCleary also described the crash as a very serious and developing incident and said he was in contact with the relevant authorities.
Sussex Rail Network Badly Disrupted
The accident has brought rail services through Lewes to a halt and caused widespread disruption across Sussex.
Southern advised passengers not to travel between Brighton, Lewes, Haywards Heath, Seaford and Eastbourne for the remainder of Thursday. Trains were unable to operate between Haywards Heath and Lewes, while services through Lewes towards Eastbourne and Seaford were also affected.
National Rail warned of major disruption and urged passengers to postpone journeys where possible or use alternative routes. The derailment also affected connections towards Brighton and Gatwick Airport, creating problems across one of the busiest rail corridors in southern England.
Remarkable Escape From Potentially Grave Accident
The sight of passenger carriages lying on their sides gives an indication of the force involved in the derailment and will inevitably raise questions about how the accident happened.
That there have so far been no reports of fatalities is particularly significant given the condition in which some of the coaches came to rest. Modern train construction, the speed of the service at the point of derailment and the precise sequence in which the coaches left the rails will all form part of the wider examination of the accident.
For passengers aboard the 2.24pm London Victoria to Eastbourne service, what began as an ordinary Thursday afternoon journey became a frightening railway emergency within seconds.
Investigators must now establish why an eight-carriage passenger train left the track on one of Sussex’s principal railway routes, and whether the extreme summer temperatures experienced across southern England played any part in an accident that could have had far more serious consequences.
