On Friday, August 14th, the British transport police reported that a passenger train derailed in the southeastern part of England. This incident marked the second train derailment in less than 24 hours in England. Experts suspect that the cause may be related to the hot weather.
According to CNN’s report on Friday, the accident occurred after 2 p.m. local time, around 9 a.m. Eastern Time. A rear carriage of a Greater Anglia train derailed near Wickford in Essex but remained upright.
Police, medical personnel, and firefighters rushed to the scene. As of the time of reporting, there were no reports of injuries.
National Rail of the UK stated that the cause of the accident is under investigation. Some train services in the afternoon were affected by the incident.
Less than 24 hours before this incident, another serious derailment occurred near Lewes in East Sussex.
The Press Association previously reported that on Thursday, August 13th, a Southern Rail passenger train derailed near Lewes while traveling from London Victoria to Eastbourne.
At that time, the train had about 150 passengers, with 3 carriages overturning and some passengers briefly trapped. All passengers were evacuated within approximately 3 hours.
The British transport police noted that this incident resulted in two serious injuries and 18 minor injuries. All 20 injured individuals were taken to major trauma centers for treatment.
Police indicated on Friday that the injuries of the two seriously injured passengers were not life-threatening.
Official reasons for these two derailments have not been disclosed. John Lawrence, the chair of the railway technical network at the Institution of Engineering and Technology in the UK, told the Science Media Centre that if the derailments are related to track issues, hot weather may have caused the tracks to expand and deform.
He mentioned that England has experienced consecutive days of high temperatures recently, with nighttime heat being difficult to dissipate, potentially increasing the heat stress on railway infrastructure.
However, these statements are currently an analysis of potential factors by experts, and the exact cause of the accidents still awaits confirmation from investigation results.