Not far from Hatfield.

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

Answers

APparently unconfirmed stories of fatalities. Just heard it on the news. Nowt on BBC ticker yet.

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

3 dead according to Auntie on line

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

Just caught snippets from a bulletin - it sounds bad.

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

Yup....if it turns out that it was defective track again then Stephen Byers, railtrack execs and engineering contractors should all be done for criminal negligence.....

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

Oh and it'll be big trouble for mags traveling down for the match tomorrow....

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

Five now feared dead.

Severe disruption to GNER services etc, extensive delays. Some trains being diverted via Hertford North where possible. Line will, presumably, remain closed for days.

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

SACK BYERS NOW!

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

5 confirmed dead, plus quite a few serious casualties.

Apparently one carriage became detached and careered into a station, causing several casualties!

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

Confirmed fatalities now 6!

The fatalities seem to have occurred in the back carriage which seems to preclude an object on the rail as the cause. The train driver is unharmed in this instance, so he should prove helpful in the investigation.

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

Five people have died after a passenger train travelling from London to Norfolk crashed at Potters Bar railway station in Hertfordshire. Ambulance service officials say 15 more casualties have life- threatening or serious injuries. There are up to 70 walking wounded.
Emergency information 0845 944 1551
The train was the 1245 WAGN service from Kings Cross, London, to Kings Lynn in Norfolk.

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

Sorry - forgot to say, just cut & pasted the above from BBC.co.uk

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

A Comedy of Errors.

Why do we still put up with this? Here's a brief history of rail accidents (from auntie) over recent years:

10 May 2002: At least six people have died and over 70 are injured after the WAGN 1245 service from London to Kings Lynn crashed at Potters Bar in Hertfordshire. Three of the four carriages derailed and one ploughed along the platform and smashed into a bridge. The accident is just a few miles from Hatfield, scene of a fatal crash in 2000.
28 February 2001: A GNER train from York to London King's Cross crashed at Great Heck between Goole and Selby, north Yorkshire, on the East Coast main line. A Land Rover slid down an embankment from the M62 into the path of an express train. The express was derailed by the impact and then collided with a freight train travelling in the opposite direction.
17 October 2000: Four people were killed and a further 35 were hurt when a GNER London to Leeds train, travelling at over 100mph, derailed at Hatfield, Hertfordshire. A broken rail was found to be the "substantial" cause of the accident.
5 October 1999:Thirty-one people were killed when two trains collided at Ladbroke Grove, just outside Paddington station, in London. The public inquiry into the disaster is still ongoing.
23 June 1999: Thirty-one people were injured after a London to Glasgow Virgin Rail train collided with a stationary local train near Winsford, Cheshire.
19 September 1997: A speeding express from Swansea to Paddington crashed into an empty freight train at Southall, killing seven people. The public Health and Safety inquiry into the crash opened in September 1999.
8 August 1996: One person killed and 69 people were injured when a train collided with a stationary passenger train at Watford South Junction in Hertfordshire.
31 January 1995: A guard was killed and 30 other people injured in an accident at Aisgill on the Settle to Carlisle line.
October 1994: Five killed and 12 injured in a head-on crash after driver ran a red signal near Cowden in Kent.

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

Local history website:

On 10th February 1946, there was a serious train crash at Potters Bar railway station, where a slow passenger train travelling from Hatfield to London King's Cross was derailed by changing points after approaching the station far too quickly. Then it was hit by a London to Edinburgh express followed by a southbound Bradford to London express. Two passengers were killed and 17 other crew and passengers were injured.

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002