Derailment, Wickford,14th August 2026

[whole diary]

[grahame]

BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) Live feed

Train derails near Wickford in Essex
published at 15:11
15:11
BREAKING
A Greater Anglia train has derailed near Wickford in Essex, the BBC understands.
We'll bring you more as we get it.

Train has derailed, Network Rail confirms
published at 15:30
15:30
BREAKING
Network Rail has just confirmed to us that a train has derailed.
"We are dealing with a derailment incident in Anglia, [region] and we are working quickly to understand the situation and to provide assistance where needed," a spokesperson says.
"We will provide further information in due course.”

[IndustryInsider]

Minor derailment apparently.  Train has stayed upright.

[TaplowGreen]

Also one at Clapham this morning.......perhaps these things come in threes?

[stuving]

Also one at Clapham this morning.......perhaps these things come in threes?

But there was also a derailment on the Volks Electric Railway yesterday ...
(currently at https://x.com/imjustbrighton_)

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) live:

'The train swung wildly,' says passenger on board derailed service in Essex

Summary

A passenger on board a derailed train in Essex tells the BBC it "swung wildly for about 10 seconds"

Emergency services are responding at the scene after a London-bound train carrying up to 45 passengers partially came off the tracks in Wickford - what we know so far

British Transport Police says "the rear carriages of a train derailed in an upright position" at 14:12 BST, adding there are no reported injuries - its statement in full

National Rail says major disruption is expected "until further notice"

It comes a day after a separate train derailment in Lewes, Sussex - the cause of that incident is still being investigated

Responding to the derailment, the Department for Transport says Britain's railways are "amongst the safest in the world"

[ChrisB]

Still ongoing, no reopening date yet available.

[Trowres]

Still ongoing, no reopening date yet available.

Normal services still not expected before 26th August. (1st September for the Haywards Heath and Lewes service affected by a more severe derailment).

Coincidentally, I came across a report from 1966 referring to a derailment of a Glasgow-London sleeper train on the Kilmarnock Line. The train, 22:10 from Glasgow on 13th August, consisted of a class 40 diesel, 13 coaches and 2 vans.
In really foul weather, overflowing streams had covered the rails with rubble. The train was proceeding with caution, but the loco and carriages were derailed and ran for about 200 yards, with loco and several carriages ending up leaning against the cutting walls.

This was early hours of a Sunday morning. In the days before GSM-R^▸ (Global System for Mobile communications - Railway. A simple mobile phone that has been fitted to the turbos to allow them to operate on lines that are not covered by the cab secure radio (CSR). This allows the Network Rail control centre to send simple STOP messages to the driver or the driver to contact the controller in emergency only. When this system is in operation a guard must be provided when in passenger operation.) radio, the crew had to protect the train and eventually find a phone to summon help. [In the prevailing weather this was a horrendous task].

At 03:00, the area manager arrived (on a loco commandeered from a circus train  ). Buses and a 2 car DMU^▸ (Diesel Multiple Unit) arrived at 06:00-ish and 06:25 to provide transport for the passengers (unclear how many, but the passengers were taken to Dumfries "where hotels in the area had been asked to provide 300 breakfasts".

So that was the first 6 hours of 14th August. The report continued:

"The train was back on the rails early on August 15th, and the line was reopened to traffic the following day. Over 300 tons of stones and rubble were cleared from the line".

[Accompanying photos showed two large rail-mounted cranes lifting the class 40; also 6 of the coaches, of which 5 were leaning by various angles]

[stuving]

RAIB^▸ (Rail Accident Investigation Branch) have announced an enquiry into this incident.

Derailment of a passenger train at Wickford
Investigation into the derailment of a passenger train at Wickford, Essex, 14 August 2026.
    Rail Accident Investigation Branch   Published:    28 August 2026

[Image from here is not available to guests]

At around 14:08 on 14 August 2026, a passenger train derailed around 2.1 miles (3.4 kilometres) south-east of Wickford station, while travelling between Southend Victoria and London Liverpool Street.

The train, operated by Greater Anglia, was formed of two class 720 electric multiple units coupled together, each consisting of five vehicles. The rearmost vehicle derailed and its wheels subsequently ran on the sleepers and ballast for around 1.5 miles (2.4 kilometres). The train remained upright throughout and there were no reported injuries to the 62 people estimated to be on board.

Preliminary analysis of the on-train data recorder (sometimes referred to as ‘the black box’) obtained from the front vehicle recorded that the train was travelling at around 77 mph (124 km/h) when it derailed. The driver reported seeing a kink in the track which rocked the driving cab as the train passed over it. Forward-facing CCTV^▸ (Closed Circuit TeleVision) recovered from the train involved shows a misalignment in the track at the same location as the driver’s report and the point of derailment.

The train driver was in the process of reporting the track condition to the signaller when they received an emergency call from another train passing in the opposite direction and applied the train’s brakes.

The train involved in the accident sustained damage and the train passing in the opposite direction received minor damage from flying ballast. There was significant damage caused to the track, signalling and overhead electrification equipment.

Our investigation will examine the sequence of events leading up to and during the derailment. It will also consider:

    the actions of those involved and the factors that may have influenced them
    the status of the track at this location and how it was maintained
    the effectiveness of any mitigation measures to address the risk of operating trains in hot weather
    the performance of the train during the derailment
    any underlying management factors.

Our investigation is independent of any investigation by the railway industry or by the industry’s regulator, the Office of Rail and Road.

We will publish our findings, including any recommendations to improve safety, at the conclusion of our investigation. This report will be available on our website.

You can subscribe to automated emails notifying you when we publish our reports.

[JohnM]

77mph (decreasing) for 1.5 miles in a carriage not running on rails must be pretty scary.

[Chris from Nailsea]

... particularly if the on-board toilet facility is not available...

[Oxonhutch]

77mph (decreasing) for 1.5 miles in a carriage not running on rails must be pretty scary.

I have been a few hundred metres on an underground mining, unsprung, solid steel - unpadded, derailed man carriage with a 2 foot gauge and a 3 foot sleeper spacing. It was a very unpleasant and painful experience.

[Chris from Nailsea]

That reminds me of my days having to commute into Bristol on a Wessex Trains 143 ...