The driver who died in the Bedford rail crash passed a red signal without stopping, while the train he hit had stopped because a fault in its warning system caused it to brake, an interim report has found. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said it was not yet clear whether the automatic warning system (AWS) on the southbound Luton airport express from Corby had alerted driver Shaun Burton, 60, that he had passed the signal.
CCTV footage showed the train leaving Bedford station and passing a yellow caution light, then the red signal. Data from the black box showed it braked nine seconds before the collision, reducing speed from 76mph to 49mph. The train collided with a stationary Nottingham-London East Midlands Railway (EMR) service near Elstow, which had stopped unexpectedly because a fault in its AWS equipment caused its brakes to apply. The stopped train was a new Hitachi Aurora class 810 model.
Mr Burton, described by EMR as a 'dedicated railway professional', was killed. Eight of the 102 seriously injured passengers remain in critical condition, with 53 still in hospital. The RAIB said a train protection and warning system (TPWS), designed to automatically stop trains that pass red signals, was not installed on this stretch of the Midland mainline.
Dave Calfe, general secretary of the Aslef union, said: 'If TPWS had been installed, this accident would not have happened.' Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander pledged to 'leave no stone unturned', while EMR managing director Will Rogers said the independent investigation must be allowed to reach its conclusions. Network Rail's Ellie Burrows added that incidents like this are 'extremely rare on Britain’s railways which remain among the safest in the world'.
Disruption on the line is expected to continue through the week as engineers access the crash site and remove damaged trains. The crash was the fourth involving passenger trains on the UK railway since 2020. The RAIB will continue to analyse the signalling system performance and the actions of those involved.
