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Train derailed after hitting cows on line in Kent

A passenger train has been derailed after hitting cows on the line in Kent.

Two carriages were derailed when the train hit the cows near Chilham station while travelling from Ashford to Canterbury, Southeastern Trains said.

The firm said no injuries to passengers had been reported and the line would remain shut, with alternative transport being planned to get passengers home.

About 70 passengers were helped off the train by emergency services, with no reports of injuries.

A Kent Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: "It is believed the train collided with livestock which had strayed on the railway line. Two carriages have been derailed but are upright."

The train hit the cows shortly after 21:30 BST.

'Going nowhere'

Southeastern said the line between Ashford and Ramsgate via Canterbury West would be closed until further notice.

The rail firm tweeted: "We're putting alternative transport in place between Ashford, Canterbury & Ramsgate and will make sure everyone gets home this evening."

It also said it was not known how Monday's services in the area would be affected.

Passenger Jonathan Calder tweeted: "Everyone is fine but this train is going nowhere. Front coach derailed."

He later confirmed he had been able to get off the train and was "now having a cup of tea in a village hall".

It has also emerged that the driver of the train involved ran down the line to stop a train coming in the other direction. His radio wasn't working after the collision so he was unable to warn the signallers or other trains in the area.

Not if the cab radio is out of action?....

I'd have thought the relatively minor nature of the derailment should not be enough to render the GSM-R radios defective in both cabs, ....

The redundancy for the radio? Perhaps just good training and correctly following procedure on the part of the driver. Protect the train, protect the lines, seek assistance. That appears to be, from reports, what he did. It may not have been practical to have tried the rear cab radio when time was of the essence.

On being derailed between Wye and Chilham

I spent yesterday with Liberator's Stewart Rayment and family at Hastings Pirate Day. (Arrr!")

I took the train back through Rye to Ashford and then caught another one to Canterbury.

Somewhere between Wye and Chilham there was a loud bang and the train began to judder. It soon became obvious that the coaches (I am not sure if there was one or two of them) in front of mine had become derailed, but we came safely to a stop.

No one was hurt - even the single passenger in the coach you can see in my photo. The train crew took control, the emergency services came (there was even a helicopter) and we waited.

Eventually we all had to climb down a ladder to reach the ground. and then make our way down a muddy back and across a field to a lane.

After a walk up the lane it was a ride in a police van (I chose the cage at the back as it was the only chance I will get to ride in one unless someone talks) to Godmersham village hall.

There tea was provided, our details were taken and eventually a bus to Canterbury and stations further east was provided. I got back to my B&B just before one in the morning.

It was all very British - no one panicked, the emergency services and railway staff were immensely impressive and it all ended with a cup of tea produced without any notice very late on a Sunday night.

It could have been more serious if the train had gone down the bank, but it didn't and no one was hurt.

Because I tweeted the photo above the world's media have been after me this morning. I have said that anyone can use the photo with a suitable credit but I do not want to be interviewed.

Oh, and what I thought was the acrid smell of the brakes being suddenly applied turned out to be the smell of burning cows. I think I shall have fish or chicken this evening.

Rail operators were warned of cows near tracks before Kent collision

Network Rail and Southeastern trains received reports of stray cattle up to 90 minutes before collision in which two carriages were derailed

Rail operators were warned that stray cows were near the tracks 90 minutes before a train collided with a herd in Kent and partly derailed, it has emerged.

The 8.10pm from Charing Cross to Ramsgate was travelling at 60-70mph when it struck and killed up to five cows on the line between the villages of Wye and Chilham, in Kent, at about 9.45pm on Sunday. Two carriages were derailed.

Network Rail and Southeastern trains revealed they had received reports of stray cattle up to 90 minutes before the collision but after a train was sent at cautionary speed without incident they resumed normal service.

Seventy-two passengers ^ including two pregnant women ^ were evacuated by emergency services to nearby Godmersham village hall, but there were no injuries.

The driver is thought to have prevented a more serious collision when he jumped out of his cabin and halted an oncoming train. Passenger Christian Ellam, 24, said he was aware rail operators had been warned that cattle were near the track, adding the incident ^could have been a hell of a lot worse^.

^A member of staff from Southeastern was at the village hall,^ Ellam, a coffee shop manager, said. ^He explained that they knew before that there were some cows on the track. I want to know why they let a train go through at such a speed. It could have been prevented.^

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has sent a team to the scene to complete a preliminary examination before it decides whether to launch an investigation.

Ellam, who is trained in first aid and was travelling from St Pancras International to Chartham after changing at Ashford, donned a high-visibility jacket and assisted the train guard in attending to the driver, who was uninjured but shaken.

^It was a horror scene,^ he said. ^The train completely, suddenly stopped and lights started flickering.

The guard came rushing through, panicking. I went out with him in a high-vis jacket to assist the driver. He was shaken up. There were bits of cows all over the place. It was a pretty bad smell.^

Passenger Jonathan Calder tweeted a picture from the train showing the carriage in front of his at an angle with the right-hand side of it clearly no longer on the rails. He wrote: ^Everyone is fine but this train is going nowhere. Front coach derailed.^

A Southeastern spokesman said: ^We get numerous calls about livestock on the line where we run trains through rural areas.

When this happens, standard procedure is that we always run a train at caution ^ at slow speed ^ to see if there is any potential hazard. If nothing is found ^ which was the case last night at Chilham ^ then services are reverted to normal running.

^The incident at Chilham happened an hour and a half after the report that there was livestock on the track and services reverted back to normal only after checks were carried out and no livestock was found.^

He said the crash caused the train^s radio system to stop working, so the driver leapt from his cab to stop an approaching train. ^He realised at this point his radio had stopped working so he jumped out of the cab and ran down the track to halt an approaching train.

He was then able to contact the signaller through the radio of this train to switch off the power to the line.^

The operator said the line would remain closed until at least Wednesday and buses were replacing trains between Ashford International and Ramsgate via Canterbury West.

A spokesman for Network Rail said up to five cows had been killed, and confirmed they first received a report of livestock in the area at 8.50pm.

^The sighting was investigated by Network Rail staff in the area, but no cows were found,^ he said. ^Two trains then passed through the area, with neither reporting any cattle on the line.^

At around 21:40 hrs on 26 July 2015, a passenger train derailed after striking eight cows that had gained access to the railway at Godmersham in Kent, between Wye and Chilham stations. There had been a report of a cow on the railway an hour earlier, but a subsequent examination by the driver of the next passing train did not find anything. There were no further reports from other trains that passed before the accident occurred.

The train involved in the accident was travelling at 69 mph (111 km/h) at the point of impact. There were 67 passengers on board plus three members of staff; no injuries were reported at the time of the accident. Because the train^s radio had ceased to work during the accident, the driver ran for about three-quarters of a mile towards an oncoming train, which had already been stopped by the signaller, and used its radio to report the accident.

The accident occurred because the fence had not been maintained so as to restrain cows from breaching it, and because the railway^s response to the earlier report of a cow on the railway side of the fence was insufficient to prevent the accident. In addition, the absence of an obstacle deflector on the leading unit of the train made the derailment more likely.

Recommendations

As a result of this accident, RAIB has made five recommendations addressing the fence inspection process, clarification of railway rules in response to reports of large animals within the boundary fence, the fitting of obstacle deflectors to rolling stock (two recommendations), and the reliability of the train radio equipment.

RAIB has also identified two learning points for the railway industry, relating to the railway^s response to emergency situations, including the response to reports of large animals within the boundary fence and the actions to take following an accident.