Train ‘seconds from disaster’ in wall collapse
A MANCHESTER train was just ‘seconds away’ from a ‘major disaster’ when a wall collapsed near Liverpool, union bosses have claimed.
Around 20 tonnes of rubble fell onto the tracks between Edge Hill Station and Liverpool Lime Street on Tuesday evening. It has now been revealed that a service travelling from Manchester Airport to Liverpool had to make an emergency stop as a result.
The driver on the 16.40 Northern service hit the brakes after the rubble triggered a ‘red signal’ causing all trains on the line to stop, the train company have confirmed.
It then proceeded at very low speed until more rubble caused a loss of power on the line. The train eventually stopped safely, but officials from one of the country’s leading transport unions say it was ‘very lucky’ that it, or another Northern service from Wigan, which was behind it, escaped a collision.
The Rail and Maritime Union (RMT) say if the train had hit the debris it would likely have caused the train to derail, potentially leading to fatalities.
Northern, however, said it simply showed that safety procedures work.
“It was seconds from disaster,” RMT regional organiser John Tilley told the BBC.
“If it had hit the debris, then it would have derailed and there would have been fatalities.”
The RMT added if plans to extend driver-only operation had already been in place, the Northern service would not have had guards aboard, with ‘potentially disastrous consequences’.
Network Rail confirmed trains won’t be able to run from Lime Street station until next Thursday at the earliest.