Police give update on Bedford train crash as nine people remain in critical condition

Emergency services have issued an update

British Transport Police declared a major incident yesterday (Friday 19 June) at 17:15 following reports of two trains colliding.

The services involved were the 16:40 from Corby to London St Pancras and the 15:50 from Nottingham to London St Pancras, both operated by East Midlands Railways.

Sadly, the driver died in the crash, as confirmed by the general secretary of the train drivers' union, Aslef.

Meanwhile, the ambulance service said that 11 people had been very seriously injured, 22 had been seriously injured, and 56 had minor injuries.

Now, emergency services have given an update on the situation.

British Transport Police chief constable Lucy D'Orsi extended her "deepest condolences" to the family of the train driver who died.

She added that nine people are in a critical condition.

Paul Gates, Strategic Commander for the East of England Ambulance Service said that 11 people sustained very serious injuries, a further 32 had serious injuries, and there were a further 56 minor injuries.

"Those with less serious injuries were treated on scene or conveyed to hospital as required."

Meanwhile, Will Rogers, the managing director of East Midlands Railway (EMR), has confirmed that it was the 16:40 service from Corby which collided with the 15:50 service from Nottingham.

The train types in question are a class 360 train and a class 810 train.

The class 810 is a much newer train intended for express services while the class 360 is usually slower and stops more often.

It appears that one of the trains hit the rear of the other.

One person has died in the incident. Credit: Screenshot Sky News.

In the wake of the incident, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was "deeply concerned".

"My thoughts are with all of those affected, especially the people who've been injured, their friends and their family," she said.

Speaking about what could have caused the crash, Alexander said it was "too early to speculate".

"We will make sure that there's a thorough investigation done to establish how this collision happened and to ensure that lessons are learned so that we don't have an incident like this ever again," she added.

"The UK railways are some of the safest in the world. It's very unusual for this to happen on the network."

Going into today, police remain at the scene of the incident while major disruption is understandably affecting services on the network.

Emergency services responding to the crash. Credit: Getty.

Statements

Multiple statement have been released with Prime Minister Keir Starmer noting the incident.

He said on X: "Hugely concerning reports of a collision involving two passenger trains near Bedford. 

"First and foremost, my thoughts are with the family of the person who has sadly lost their life, and with those who have been seriously injured.

"I am grateful to the emergency services for their swift response to this tragic incident."

Meanwhile, East Midlands Railways said in a statement: "We are deeply saddened to confirm that yesterday the 16:40 EMR service from Corby to London St Pancras was involved in a collision with the 15:50 Nottingham to London St Pancras service at Bedford South.

"Tragically, this incident resulted in the fatality of an EMR driver and a number of injuries to passengers on board.

"Our thoughts and condolences are with their family, friends and colleagues, as well as everyone else affected by this incident.

"We are continuing to work closely with Network Rail and the emergency services."