EXPRESS HITS DERAILED LOCAL

Evening Star, Issue 25715, 12 February 1946, Page 6

EXPRESS HITS DERAILED LOCAL

TWO SOLDIERS KILLED LONDON, February 11. Two soldiers were killed and at least eight persons were injured when a fast express train, bound from King’s Cross to Newcastle, crashed late last night into a local train which had been derailed near Potter’s Bar. Some coaches on the express were telescoped, while other were derailed. Both the soldiers killed were in the local train. An eye-witness said that the local train crashed into the end of the platform, and wreckage was strewn across the track. A few seconds later he heard the north-bound express approaching, and then a heavy crash. The derailment of the local train had blocked both the up and down lines. At the time of the accident a third train —one from Bradford—was approaching, but it was stopped clear of the obstruction by signals. Main line services were suspended, but efforts were made to get the service running on both sides of the obstruction, and two hours after the accident a packed train left for London carrying passengers who were able to travel. Gangs of men worked throughout the night by the light of the moon and flares, to clear the wreckage from the train collision. The wreckage completely blocked the main line for a quarter of a mile, and. an adjacent field was strewn with broken glass and shattered woodwork torn off the express, the engine of which was overturned ,