A freight train derailed at Sheffield station on Wednesday 11 November, closing part of the station and causing significant damage.
It happened at about 02:45, as a train carrying cement came off the tracks while passing through Platform 1 at the station. Although it was a slow speed derailment, and nobody was hurt, a number of the 34 wagons derailed, with some falling over. Signalling and track was damaged, closing five of the station’s eight platforms.
Network Rail engineers were on the scene all night to make sure that three platforms were available for passenger services. However, that still led to a significant number of unavoidable cancellations, with other services subject to severe disruption.
The incident affected CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Northern and TransPennine Express passenger services.
As is standard practice with any train derailment, inspectors from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) have to examine the scene before the train can be removed.
Matt Rice, Network Rail’s route director for the North and East route, said: “We’re really sorry about the huge amount of disruption that will be caused to passengers today.
“Thankfully, train derailments are very rare, but when they do happen we have to act with utmost caution to protect the safety of everyone using the railway.
“We will have our people working around the clock to get the station fully reopened as quickly as possible, but it’s going to be a complex problem that won’t be resolved immediately.”
1 Trackback / Pingback