24 minutes agoShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleAlex Pope,Bedford Railway StationandRachael McMenemy
EPA/ShutterstockA ticket inspector who helped injured passengers, despite being hurt himself, after a fatal crash between two trains near Bedford has been described as a hero.
A train driver was killed and about 100 people were injured when two East Midlands Railway (EMR) services to London St Pancras collided at about 17:15 BST on Friday.
Praising the inspector’s actions, Mareks Grabovskis told the BBC: “I could see he was in pain himself, but he was telling someone on the radio to close the lines, and checking if everyone else was OK.”
Disruption between London and Bedford is expected to last a week. The MP for Mid Bedfordshire, Blake Stephenson, told the BBC 600m (1968ft) of track would need to be replaced.
Grabovskis, who had got on the 16:40 Corby train, said: “I was about to board the first carriage, but there were too many people because the train only had four carriages, so at the last second I moved to the last carriage.”
He said he had gone flying when the collision happened, passed out and woke up on the floor to see people “covered in blood” and screaming.
“It was one of the most terrifying moments of my life, and I know how fortunate I am to be here today,” he added.
Network RailStephenson said the crash site was “quite difficult to get to”.
He said: “The overhead wires need to be removed, a crane needs access to remove train carriageways and there’s been so much damage to the rails that about 600m of track needs to be replaced before the overhead wires can be replaced and then the track can reopen.
“The teams will work at pace but there’s an awful lot of work to do.”
Commuters arriving at Bedford station on Monday said railway staff had been doing their best to offer support.
Network Rail said the line was expected to remain closed between Bedford and Luton for the rest of the week, until 28 June.
There will be no GTR services north of Luton and no EMR services south of Bedford, with a limited rail replacement bus service in operation between Luton and Bedford.
Alex Pope/BBCBernie Casey usually travels from Bedford to London for work, but has been unable to travel due to delays.
He said: “I was up at 06:00 BST looking to attempt the journey, but it’s not going to happen. It’s a sad set of circumstances.”
Casey said his journey on Friday had also been affected and it had taken nearly five hours to get back to Bedford.
“I mean, my heart goes out to the people who were affected in the crash on Friday.
“In fairness to people at the station, as soon as I arrived people were here to give advice and assistance in relation to how long my journey might take and that’s informed my decision not to travel.”
Alex Pope/BBCMegan Hughes travels from Flitwick to Bedford for work, a journey that usually takes 10 to 15 minutes.
With the rail replacement services she said had taken 45 minutes, meaning she would be late for work.
She praised the teams at Flitwick for offering advice to stressed passengers.
Hughes said she had felt “better knowing there were people around to let me know where I was going”.
Alex Pope/BBCFeby Thomas, from Wellingborough, was still able to get a train, but had to change her shift at work.
It had taken her about two hours longer to get home on Friday, she said, but she had no idea why until later.
“We didn’t know what happened. When we got home and saw the news, it was terrible,” she added.
Thomas said the delays she had faced had been unimportant, given the seriousness of the collision.
Alex Pope/BBCNana Adjho normally travels from his home in Stevenage to Luton, where he gets the train to Bedford.
Adjho said the replacement bus services needed “to be improved” and he had not been given much information about the delays.
He said the whole journey had taken 90 minutes longer than normal, meaning he would be late for work.
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