Wales train crash: Police issue update after man in his 60s killed following collision

Chief Inspector Jonathon Cooze has issued an update about the deadly crash between two trains in Wales on Monday evening. One man has died and 15 people were injured

A police chief has revealed that the passenger who died in a horror train crash in Wales was a man in his 60s.

Chief Inspector Jonathon Cooze attended the media briefing on site following the collision which happened between two trains on Monday night. CI Jonathon Cooze issued a major update in response to the tragedy which took place near Llanbrynmair in Powys shortly before 7pm. He said an investigation is underway.

Chief Inspector Jon Cooze, said: “Sadly, a man in his 60s has died following the collision. The circumstances leading to his death are currently under investigation. His next of kin have been informed and the family will receive ongoing specialist support from specialist officers.

“While formal identification has not taken place he is not believed to be a member of rail staff. Our thoughts remain with his loved ones and we kindly ask that they’re given privacy at this very difficult time.”

It comes after British Transport Police confirmed that 15 people endured injuries following the incident. All passengers were evacuated as emergency services rushed to the scene. The trains, which were both Class 158s operated by Transport for Wales (TfW), were the 6.31pm service from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth and the 7.09pm service from Machynlleth to Shrewsbury.

Jonah Evans, 25, said the driver told fellow passengers to "brace themselves" before the trains made impact, reports Wales Online. He said: “The driver ran in and sat on a chair and said ‘brace yourselves, we’re about to hit a train’. Someone lost their teeth, cracked ribs. Because the driver told us it was happening, we could kind of get ready.”

A passenger on the Shrewsbury-bound service, Anthony Hurford, told BBC Breakfast: “The word that keeps coming to my head is just ‘brutal’, really. Just going from, I don’t know how fast we were going, maybe 40, 50, 60 miles an hour, to nothing in the blink of an eye. Somehow my body bent the leg of a table and ripped it off its bolts attached to the wall. Suddenly I was on the floor with my laptop strewn ahead of me wondering what the hell had happened.

“We tried to stop at the lights. At the top of the hill there’s a signal that I guess would’ve been a passing place and for whatever reason the train wouldn’t stop. There must’ve been 30/40 people from fire (service), there was British Transport Police who had come from Birmingham, there were three helicopters, people had come from north and south Wales as far as I’m aware. I was checked by three or four different medics.”

Network Rail and TfW said in a joint statement it was a “low-speed collision”. Both trains remained on the tracks. The crash happened on the Cambrian line in a rural location with a single track, close to a passing loop where trains travelling in opposite directions can pass each other.

Earlier on Monday TfW advised passengers that its services were running at reduced speeds through Dovey Junction station – which is on the same line – because previous trains reported the track was “extremely slippery”. The operator suspended all services on the separate Heart of Wales line on Tuesday “until further notice” due to “poor rail conditions”.

Leaves cause major disruption every autumn when they stick to damp rails and become compressed by train wheels. This creates a smooth, slippery layer similar to black ice on roads, reducing trains’ grip. Speed restrictions are often imposed in an attempt to reduce accidents such as the crash between two trains outside a tunnel near Salisbury, Wiltshire, in October 2021 which left 13 passengers and one driver requiring hospital treatment.

A South Western Railway (SWR) train slipped on crushed leaves, causing it to slide past a stop signal and smash into the side of a Great Western Railway service. The SWR train was a Class 159, which is in the same family as the 158s. Railway engineer Gareth Dennis said modern safety systems on Britain’s railways mean there is “very little” that can cause a collision between two trains. He said investigators will “look very closely” at whether it was caused by “low adhesion” between train wheels and the track.

Mr Dennis said a second potential reason could be that the European Train Control System (ETCS), which is an in-cab digital signalling system designed to keep trains apart, “failed in some way”. The Cambrian line was used to test ETCS – part of the European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) before it was rolled out onto the East Coast Main Line.

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