FURY was building today after a suspected technical fault was blamed for two trains colliding “like a bomb explosion” in a horror rush-hour crash.
One of the drivers was killed and nine passengers are in a critical condition fighting for their lives after the smash at Bedford on Friday evening.
Investigators are examining whether the automatic warning system on one of the trains failed to be triggered by a signal.
Passenger Brett Byatt, who was on the moving train that ploughed into the rear of a stationary one, was angry because he believes the accident was preventable.
Mr Byatt escaped injury but said most of the people in his carriage were hurt, including some with broken limbs — and another passenger spoke of casualties “spitting out blood”.
British Transport Police Chief Constable Lucy D’Orsi confirmed that 28 people remained in hospital of a total of 99 injured.
She added that the male driver’s family had been informed of his death.
“The driver’s family is being supported by specially trained officers at this difficult time,” she said.
An East Midlands Railway Luton Airport Express train from Corby to London St Pancras crashed into the rear of another of the operator’s service from Nottingham to the same station at around 5.10pm.
It is understood the driver of the stopped train from Nottingham was reporting a fault to maintenance staff by phone at the time.
But it is suspected a further catastrophic technical error with the second train failed to trigger its automatic safety mechanism.
Witnesses described scenes of “carnage” and “panic” as passengers were violently thrown from their seats in the impact.
One said he believed 90 per cent of those in his carriage had been injured during the incident, and one woman had “snapped” her leg.
Shocking video taken by passengers showed people covered in blood on the floors of the trains as others were evacuated to a field.
Images also showed several wounded with swollen faces, bandaged heads and bruises.
It is understood the Rail Accident Investigation Branch is looking at a potential failure of the moving train’s automatic warning system.
The AWS is triggered if a train passes a yellow or red signal without braking.
A bell sounds in the cab and if it goes unacknowledged by the driver, a secondary system called the train protection warning system automatically applies the brakes.
Investigators are retrieving the on-train data recorder — the railway equivalent of an aircraft’s black box — to verify if the two systems were working.
It will also detect the driver’s interaction with the system before stopping, tell investigators the train’s speed as well as when and for how long the brakes were used.
Network Rail said a “complex” recovery operation was expected. Its eastern region boss Ellie Burrows said: “We have significant railway resources deployed on the ground and teams across the industry who are working closely together to support the response.”
East Midlands Railway said it was supporting the probe. The King was said to be “greatly saddened” by the incident and is receiving regular updates.
PM Sir Keir Starmer said his thoughts were with the family of the driver who died, as well as those injured. He also hailed the NHS staff and air ambulance crews for their work in “extremely difficult circumstances”.
RMT Union boss Eddie Dempsey said he was “devastated” by the death of a train driver. He added: “The thoughts of RMT are with their family, friends, colleagues and the Aslef trade union at this awful time.”
And Dave Calfe, the general secretary of train drivers’ union Aslef, added: “We want to thank the emergency services who responded so quickly, to help those on board.”
As some in the crash questioned how it could happen, especially with modern safety systems, more details emerged of the terrible force of the impact.
Mr Byatt added: “It was like a boom, smash, and everyone that was sat down went flying into one another. There was a woman that had completely snapped her leg, and a woman behind her, they were sort of on top of each other, she couldn’t move because of her back.
“There was a guy further down the carriage that couldn’t move his neck, he was laid on the floor and people were holding him still.
“Something just switched and I went into first aid training mode.”
Another passenger, Dr Peter Knapp, 40, said: “I felt like I’d been in a bomb explosion.”
“There was a moment of being flung into the chair in front. Then I saw smoke.
“People were crying, screaming, people were so scared and confused. I saw all of the chairs everywhere. When I got up, I saw people’s bloodied faces and people’s legs looked broken and there was smoke everywhere.
“Passengers were spitting out blood.” He added: “I was in the front carriage. I don’t know how I walked away from that.”
Dr Knapp said an air ambulance arrived within about five or ten minutes.
Paramedics had to cut through a hedge with shears to reach the casualties.
He escaped with relatively minor injuries and said: “I’m extremely grateful for that because so many people in that carriage I was in had their legs broken, and there was blood everywhere.”
Teresa Itabor, from Wellingborough, Northants, was on the stationary train with her eyes closed and headphones on when it happened.
She said: “We left Bedford station and there was a massive bang. I didn’t know what was going on.
“My head hit the seat in front of me. I opened my eyes and that’s when I saw people on the floor with blood everywhere.”
Rail journalist Tony Miles said the crash appeared to have been a “slow-speed collision”.
He told Sky News: “The question has to be how has that train that’s in the rear got into contact with the train that it was following, and obviously it’s either gone past the signal that was telling it it should stop, or the signal was faulty.”
Transport specialist Christian Wolmar, a rail author and presenter of the Calling All Stations podcast, told The Sun on Sunday a “signalling issue” or a similar error will most likely be the cause.
Last night, the line through Bedford remained closed as investigations continued.
