• Published

Rail services on a busy line in the South East are being cancelled this weekend after a train carrying 150 people derailed in East Sussex.

Two passengers suffered serious injuries and 18 others were also hurt when three carriages of the train came off the tracks near Lewes on Thursday. Police have since said none of the casualties had life-threatening injuries.

Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) inspectors are at the scene gathering evidence, examining infrastructure and reviewing CCTV, signalling and train data.

The derailment was followed by another incident in Essex on Friday, when a Greater Anglia train came off the tracks near Wickford.

Train operator Southern Rail said trains between London Victoria and Eastbourne will be cancelled this weekend as the line between Haywards Heath and Lewes has been closed indefinitely in both directions.

Southern says Cooksbridge and Plumpton will also not be served all weekend, with rail replacement buses operating.

Eastbourne is expected to get a bumper number of visitors this weekend when the seaside town hosts its popular Airbourne air show.

The rail company has advised people to travel to Eastbourne along the coast via Brighton.

It has also urged commuters planning to travel on Monday to check for updates on its website, external on Sunday evening.

Passengers have been speaking about the "panic and fear" on board the 14:24 BST Southern service from London Victoria to Eastbourne.

Several people were trapped before being evacuated from the derailed train.

Rachel Heath said the train was "bumping up and down and then jostling from side to side like a seesaw", with everyone around her screaming.

"I just remember looking around and seeing so much panic and fear in so many people's eyes," she said.

She said it felt as though the carriage was "almost lifted into the air" before it came back down and fell on to its side and how she thought she was going to die.

She described it as "just a very, very harrowing experience".

Tracy McGregor recalled the derailment as like a "metal tube carving through the earth", picking up dirt from the field.

She said: "When it did stop, there was this almighty cloud of mud and earth and everyone had mud on their faces."

Pictures at the Lewes derailment have shown how the force of the train leaving the tracks had flattened trees and left a piece of track strewn across the embankment.

Preparations were being made on Friday for the use of a crane to remove the derailed carriages.

Investigators, along with emergency teams and Network Rail, are operating from a command centre set up in a nearby field.

Work includes examining the accident site, the derailed train and railway infrastructure.

An RAIB spokesperson said investigators expect to provide an update next week.

British Transport Police has appealed for anyone on the train who hasn't spoken to the force to come forward.

John Whitehouse, chief executive of Greater Thameslink Railway (GTR), which operates Southern, said: "Accidents of this nature are incredibly rare, and the railway is incredibly safe."

Asked about speed restrictions on the line, Whitehouse told BBC Sussex: "During hot weather we have a very robust inspection regime and if there is a need to reduce speed, we will do that.

"It wasn't in this case, but obviously that will need to be picked up by the RAIB."

Richard Wilcock, Rail Magazine industry editor, said it was hard to know the cause without speculating, but photographs appeared to show "clearly a buckled track".

The BBC's transport correspondent Katy Austin said heat could affect the railway, but crucially, it could not be known at this stage whether hot conditions were a factor.

Lewes District Council's deputy leader, Christine Robinson, praised emergency services, particularly East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, adding: "There is no question that without their swift and coordinated actions, the number of casualties would have been significantly higher."

Nearby Lamport Community Hub had opened to offer a safe place, medical treatment and shelter from the hot weather, with temperatures in the 30s.

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