NORTHERN’S 0518 Preston to Barrow-in-Furness on March 22 derailed as it approached Grange-over-Sands station, where it was due at 0605.
Network Rail said that it had found a void in the track around 150 metres behind the train, which was formed of two three-car Class 195 diesel multiple units, with 195104 leading and 195133 on the rear. Only the front unit derailed.
Within the void there are water pipes which RAIL understands were used to pump water from a golf course on one side of the line out to Morecambe Bay on the other side.
The line approaching Grange-over-Sands from Preston runs along the sea front. It has a section of salt marsh then a sloping stone wall, topped by a low vertical wall from which the derailed unit dislodged blocks.
The pipes were seen to be damaged after the incident. But it’s not clear whether this was the result of the derailment or whether their damage allowed water to flood the ground under the track and so cause the void on which the train derailed.
Northern said there were four crew members and four passengers on the train. Services were quickly suspended, with the closest train in the other direction stopped at Ulverston (ten miles away), where it should have left at 0609. This was Northern’s 0550 Barrow-in-Furness to Manchester Airport.
