Bedford train crash latest: Nine in critical condition as King Charles ‘greatly saddened’ by deadly collision

Locals brought snacks for dozens of people stuck on a train behind the two trains that crashed on Friday.

Footage shows the passengers walking up the closed rail line after leaving the stationary train.

“Thoughts are with everyone involved in the Bedford train collision today. I was on the train behind and stranded for hours,” wrote on passenger on X.

“Huge thanks to my partner and neighbours, who brought water and snacks for passengers when we stopped outside my house. Humanity at its best.”

A witness described how people were “picked up and shaken like dice” following a train crash that killed a driver and injured more than 80 people near Bedford on Friday.

Eyewitness, Dr Pete Knapp, 40, described the moment he was “flung” into a chair as the two trains collided. He said: “There was a moment of being flung into the chair in front, and then I saw smoke. People were crying, screaming, people were so scared and confused.

“I got up and I saw a lot of people who were unable to speak, had broken legs, and then I managed to get out of the train and because I’m quite thin I was able to squeeze out through the gap in the doors.”

He added: “My first thought was I needed to get out of the train just in case it was a terrorist explosion, I thought it was safer to get off the train.”

Dr Knapp said he had not felt the train slow down before the crash, but other passengers told him they had.

He said he he saw people with “life-threatening, major injuries, minor injuries” as well as “people with bandages, people who couldn’t see straight”, while others like him were still able to walk.

Dr Knapp added: “I’ve got blood all over my trousers and my back hurts like hell but I’m alright.”

Ministers and local politicians have said the crash is “very concerning” as they shared their condolences with those affected.

In a statement on X, Sir Keir Starmer said: “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.”

Heidi Alexander said she was “deeply concerned” by reports of a collision between two passenger trains in Bedfordshire.

In a post on X, the transport secretary said: “I’m deeply concerned to hear reports of the collision involving 2 East Midlands Railway passenger trains.

“I’m grateful to emergency services who are on the scene, attending to those affected.

“We’re working quickly with the rail industry and local partners to support passengers.”

Early on Friday evening Bedford and Kempston MP Mohammad Yasin told The Telegraph: “I am very concerned by the early reports of an incident this evening just outside Bedford and Kempston, involving two Midland Mainline trains travelling towards London.

“My thoughts are with everyone involved, their families, and all those who may be affected.

“I want to thank the emergency services and railway staff who are responding to the incident.”

Network Rail has said it is “deeply saddened” after a train driver “tragically died” in a statement released on Saturday morning.

“Our thoughts are with their family, friends and colleagues, and with everyone affected,” it said.

“Our teams are on site working closely with the emergency services and industry partners. We want to thank the emergency services and the wider railway family for their professionalism and swift response.

“In the meantime, we ask passengers to please check before they travel.”

Brett Byatt, a teacher who lives in Bedford and was unharmed in the crash, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday: “Yesterday I was pretty shocked. This morning it feels surreal, and I think I’ve moved into the stage of anger now.

“I don’t know at whom, who specifically, but it’s more about we’ve got one of the oldest railway networks and signal failures happen a lot, and now I’m just wondering… why wasn’t that signalled to my train and why did that train driver lose his life over this?”

A train driver died and more than 80 people were injured after the collision. Investigations are set to begin into the cause of the crash, after one train collided into the back of a stationary train on the same line shortly after 5pm.

The driver who died in the train collision on Friday was on the 16:40 Corby train to St Pancras, Dave Calfe, general secretary of the train drivers’ union Aslef, said on Saturday morning.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the railway family will be “feeling the sadness and sorrow” of the loss of their life.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch is looking into what lessons can be learned, he added.

Mr Calfe said: “The most important thing for us is that we learn the outcomes from incidents like this and prevent them from happening in the future.”

The King is “greatly saddened” by the rail crash near Bedford on Friday evening, Buckingham Palace spokesperson has said.

King Charles is being kept regularly updated on developments and “his thoughts and sympathies are with the family of the deceased and with all those injured or affected by such a tragic incident”, they added.

Travel expert and former Independent correspondent Simon Calder has said the trains crashed as a result of a technical fault on the rail lines.

The train in front, which was running late on its way south to London, had come to a halt “because of a problem with the automatic warning system which warns train drivers if there is a red signal ahead”, he told Cathy Newman on Sky News.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch says it is currently investigating the cause of the crash.

While the driver was travelling to sort this out, the 16:40pm from Corby was on the same southbound line and collided with the stationary train.

“The pictures we are seeing are just shocking for the train to have struck with such force that we had a derailment is really worrying.

“Of course, railways are in general extremely safe… but if you are involved in an accident where you were previously travelling quickly and suddenly come to a halt then that is, I’m so sorry to say, going to involve some serious injuries.”

A passenger on one of the trains that collided said he thought 90 per cent of people on his carriage had serious injuries, could not stand or move their neck.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Brett Byatt said: “The people in first class ended up with stomach and rib injuries, because they went into the tables they have in first class, and EMR (East Midlands Railway) trains, the way that they’re structured with seats, was probably the worst way it could have been structured for a train crash, in the sense that there’s nothing… because they’re, they face each other in the three by three and the two by three, and the seat… when people flew into one another, the seats that they were on, like, broke backwards into the people behind them.”

The teacher, who lives in Bedford and was unharmed in the crash, added: “I’ve said before that I’d probably say 90 per cent of the people on my carriage had injuries, I’d probably say from three to four of us were uninjured in a full carriage.

“Everyone else had either a serious wound that was bleeding profusely, or a situation where they couldn’t stand, or couldn’t move their neck, or I saw a woman’s snapped leg.”