‘I thought I was going to die’… Minute-by-minute how Lewes derailment unfolded from buckled track to flipped carriages

PASSENGERS screamed and were hurled from their seats as three carriages of a busy commuter train derailed. Home-bound commuters felt the carriages “rocking” moments before the 300-ton train bucked off the tracks just as it was approaching the historic market town of Lewes, East Sussex. Investigators are already on the scene as a probe into the disaster gets underway Credit: PA Disaster struck the packed 2.24pm service from London Victoria to Eastbourne when the train’s rear three carriages left the track at around 90 minutes later at around 3.50pm. The service was already running around 20 minutes late – having been subject to speed restrictions before disaster struck. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Passengers were tossed around inside the train with commuters describing people “dropping from the sky” as the rear three carriages of the eight coach train were thrown down a dusty embankment. The derailment left 40 of the train’s 150 terrified passengers trapped on one of the hottest days of the year – with two people being left seriously injured. Passengers waited atop the flipped train for help to arrive – with the buckled track visible Credit: Getty Passengers described people ‘falling from the sky’ inside the sideways train Investigators from the Rail Accident Investigation Board will now be studying the train’s black box as they aim to get to the bottom of what caused Britain’s second rail disaster in two months. When the train set off from London Victoria – it was a journey like any other, with commuters heading home back into the Sussex countryside. However, the train crawled towards disaster – with tracking data showing it lost around 20 minutes as it travelled from East Croydon to Gatwick Airport. It then passed through Haywards Heath, Wivelsfield and Cooksbridge – before beginning its fateful two-mile journey to Lewes. Most read in The Sun People aboard the crashed train told of the terrifying moment the carriages were thrown from the tracks. Passenger Rachel Heath said it was “terrifying” she thought she was going to die. She told the BBC: “I just remember thinking to myself that I was going to die. “There was about two seconds where I genuinely thought this was it, and so I went on my phone, immediately called my partner as the train was still flipping. “[That] was just kind of in my mind as I made that call—calling to say goodbye.” Nathan Cole, 30, told The Sun: “I was at the very back carriage. Even before it derailed it wobbled and I saw a woman kind of grab onto her seat. I’m even a bit worried myself. Three carriages slid down an embankment next to the tracksCredit: Refer to source Two people were seriously injured in the horror and rushed to a major trauma unitCredit: Refer to source “Then after I heard the suspension go into full force. “The train carried on going, and then within a minute, it’s done it again, and then it’s just gone straight off the track. “I’m facing backwards, I’m travelling backwards, but the window is to my right side. “One woman almost fell on me. “The woman who was holding onto the chair, when the train came to a stop I had to pick her up because she couldn’t really move. “At that time, I didn’t really feel any pain. I think it was the adrenaline. I just wanted to get out of the train. “I was worried that the train was going to catch on fire, to be honest.” Rob Bradley, who was travelling with his six-year-old daughter Mabel, described his horror at seeing the carriage he was in jump “vertically upwards” – and said the train was “rocking” before the crash. He told The Times his and his daughter’s bags, as well as his laptop and AirPods, were thrown forward by the sudden jerk of the derailment. After the train derailed at 3.45pm, twenty people in total were rushed to hospital after being triaged next to the tracks by emergency responders. Rail staff at the scene where the train derailed near Lewes Credit: PA Three carriages flipped off the track Credit: PA Two suffered serious injuries and were sent to a major trauma centre for treatment. Terrifying pictures from the scene show the carriages lying on their sides, with passengers standing on top of the train as they were helped to safety. One bloodied passenger described the moment everything went “topsy-turvy” as the train suddenly picked up speed and rolled over. Susan Lees told The Sun: “I’m just happy to be alive and that there were no fatalities on the train. “Some people were injured quite badly I understand, we’ve all been looked after so wonderfully.” And Cole, told The Times that he watched as dirt flew by the window just inches from his face. He said: “I’m thinking, I hope this window doesn’t burst, because if the window will break that goes right in my face.” Pictures of the crash scene revealed the devastation. And immediately questions were asked about the visibly buckled track and crumbled embankment. Experts have told how the short journey time meant the train was likely travelling at just 40mph – which thankfully meant passengers were saved from the horror of a high-speed crash. As the RAIB probes the disaster, experts believe they will be looking at one likely cause – warped tracks. Cameras on the train will show the state of the track before the carriages passed over it – and images from the scene reportedly support the buckled rail theory. Experts said a buckled track is likely to have caused the derailment Credit: Reuters A huge emergency response descended on the stretch of the rail line Credit: PA The former chairman of the Strategic Rail Authority said investigators should be able to see “what the track looked like as the train arrived” at the section of rail where it was thrown from the track. Richard Bowker told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme that the Rail Accident Investigation Branch will “be looking at things like the condition of the track.” He added: “We’ve seen images of damaged track – was that caused by the derailment, or did it cause it, or a bit of both?” Bowker said: “The train itself I would expect to be fitted with forward-facing CCTV cameras, so it will be possible to see, I would suspect, what the track looked like as the train arrived.” He added that the train’s black box will show investigators what speed it was going and whether the driver applied the brakes. Investigators will likely focus on the section of track known as the ballast and will also probe the nearby embankment. Yesterday, local MP James MacClearly told The Times: “I had a meeting literally last week with Greater Thameslink Railway, who are the parent company of Southern Rail. “We did discuss the track and the fact that it has been a bit bumpier in recent months.” The exact cause of the derailment will remain a mystery until the RAIB publishes its findings. 1 comment1