'Like bombs going off': Eyewitnesses recall 1986 rail crash

Ivy Beresford was in her living room one evening in 1986 when she heard a deafening crash.

"It was like two or three bombs going off," she says, recalling running to the window to look at the railway line outside.

"There was a train heading north and it came to a screeching halt - then seconds later another train travelling in the opposite direction hit it at speed.

"Then my daughter screamed."

On 19 September 1986, the village of Colwich in Staffordshire became the scene of one of the UK's most dramatic rail accidents.

Two intercity express trains had crashed into each other at 18:30 BST, when most villagers were settling down for dinner.

The 17:00 London to Manchester had passed flashing yellow lights, which, during a subsequent public inquiry it emerged the driver thought he was safe to proceed to the next signal expecting it to turn green for him.

In fact, he should have slowed down ready to stop. By the time the error was realised, it was too late - the emergency brake was applied and the train passed a red signal.

Seconds later the 17:20 Liverpool to London service passed a green signal at 100mph and smashed into the stationary train at Colwich Junction.

The driver heading south, Eric Goode, was killed. The northbound driver and a trainee managed to jump clear.

In total, 75 passengers were injured but, despite the twisted wreckage of the carriages, none were killed and many walked away completely unhurt.

Malcolm Beresford was upstairs when he heard the impact. He and wife Ivy still live in the house opposite the railway line.

"I saw a smoking wreckage with carriages sticking up in the air. There was nothing really left of the locomotives," he says.

Some of the injured passengers started to free themselves and climb through doors and windows.

"I was very shocked. The whole community came together to help the walking wounded."

His wife remembers they had been planning to go out shopping that evening.

"When it happened we dropped everything to help," she says.

"You could see the people tumbling in the carriages. It was one of the scariest things I've ever seen."

Weeks later they would find one of the train's buffers wedged in their garden.

"That gives you an example of the force of the crash," Malcolm Beresford says.

Passengers who avoided serious injury were taken to Colwich Parish Church, while those hurt were driven to Stafford General Hospital.

BBC News reporter Colin Philpott was on the Manchester-bound train after a day at work in London.

He went from helping the injured to reporting on the unfolding story.

"I remember the de-acceleration of the train," he says.

"We were going pretty fast and the came almost to an instant halt. The next thing I knew, I was thrown forward and I remember people being thrown across the carriage.

"When I got up, I opened the carriage door with the other passengers. By this point the coach was standing up in the air - I actually slid down the side and I remember thinking 'this is a long way down'," he adds.

"I remember thinking after helping passengers off the train, what is my role here?," he says.

"Well actually my job is a reporter and with this being before mobile phones and the internet I had to find a phone box and managed to call the Pebble Mill newsroom."

He spent part of the afternoon knocking on doors asking to borrow people's landline telephones so he could speak to news editors.

"I actually ended up delivering the package for both network and regional news," he recalls.

"The crash is a day I'll never forget - I can't believe it was 40 years ago."

Around 300 trains pass through Colwich daily, and it remains one of the busiest sections of the West Coast Mainline.

A memorial garden a short walk from the railway bridge is a subtle reminder of the accident, paying tribute to Eric Goode.

Robin Mathams is one of a group of volunteers looking after it.

"The garden is here thanks to the local track foreman Alf Taylor," he says.

"He wanted there to be a permanent memorial to Eric to preserve his legacy and contribution to the railway. Sadly Alf is no longer with us but we are determined to keep the garden here and the memory alive."

Goode was based in Crewe and very popular among the railway community, he says.

"He drove intercity trains for British Rail regularly and on one occasion drove the famous Flying Scotsman.

"Eric's family are still regular visitors to the garden which features a replica name plate of the locomotive he was driving at the time of the crash."

The public inquiry determined human error was to blame.

The quality of the rolling stock was praised, however, with the robustness of the carriages credited with saving lives.

The crash was one of a number of incidents which led to safety improvements across UK railways.

Network Rail, which is responsible for the West Coast Mainline, said signalling rules were amended, "particularly around the use of flashing-yellow aspects and junction signalling, to reduce the risk of drivers misinterpreting route indications".

A spokesperson added the Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) was rolled out nationally between 1999 and 2003.

The technology can automatically apply a train's brakes if it passes a signal at danger or approaches certain junctions too quickly.

"Our thoughts remain with the families and communities affected by the Colwich rail crash, 40 years on from the tragic incident."

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