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  "path": "/news/bedford-train-crash-passenger-signalling-failures",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-20T09:48:58.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "One dead in horror Bedford train crash as 89 injured in 'Britain's worst rail tragedy this decade'",
    "Man arrested after child 'thrown into crocodile enclosure' on bail as suspect 'unfit for interview'",
    "Tudor tapestry returned to National Trust estate after being lost for decades",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nA passenger on one of the trains involved in yesterday's crash has questioned the circumstances leading up to the fatal collision.\n\nThe train driver has been confirmed dead, and 89 people have been injured after the incident.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nBrett Byatt said he has been left feeling \"shocked\" and then \"angry\".\n\nSpeaking to the BBC, the teacher from Bedford said: \"Yesterday I was pretty shocked.\"\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nHe added: \"This morning, it feels surreal, and I think I’ve moved into the stage of anger now.\"\n\nReferring to reports of a fault that had caused one train to stop, he said: \"We’ve got one of the oldest railway networks and signal failures happen a lot, and now I’m just wondering … why wasn’t that signalled to my train and why did that train driver lose his life over this?\"\n\nMr Byatt was unharmed in the collision.\n\nThe horror crash left 11 people with very serious injuries, 22 seriously injured and 56 with minor injuries, the East of England Ambulance Service said yesterday evening.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nFootage taken by passengers revealed the graphic aftermath of two East Midlands Railway (EMR) services colliding on the tracks.\n\nEddie Dempsey, the General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, said: \"We are devastated to learn that a train driver and former RMT rep has tragically died as a result of today’s crash between Luton and Bedford.\n\n\"The thoughts of RMT are with their family, friends, colleagues and the ASLEF trade union at this awful time.\"\n\nBritish Transport Police said: \"A major incident has been declared, and officers are continuing to respond at the scene alongside colleagues from Bedfordshire Police and the local Fire and Rescue and Ambulance Services.\"\n\n### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS\n\n\n\n\n  * One dead in horror Bedford train crash as 89 injured in 'Britain's worst rail tragedy this decade'\n  * Man arrested after child 'thrown into crocodile enclosure' on bail as suspect 'unfit for interview'\n  * Tudor tapestry returned to National Trust estate after being lost for decades\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nAerial footage from earlier today shows two damaged trains, with one carriage pushed off the tracks.\n\nMore than 30 emergency vehicles attended the crash after EMR confirmed frontline workers were handling an incident between London St Pancras and Leicester.\n\nFive air ambulance helicopters are in attendance at the major incident, alongside the Hazardous Area Response Team.\n\nThe Bedford crash will mark one of the most significant train crashes of the past decade in Britain.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nMr Byatt estimated that he thought \"90 per cent\" of passengers in his carriage had sustained injuries.\n\nThe passenger added: \"I’d probably say from three to four of us were uninjured in a full carriage.\n\n\"Everyone else had either a serious wound that was bleeding profusely, or a situation where they couldn’t stand, or couldn’t move their neck, or I saw a woman’s snapped leg.\"\n\nThe cause of the crash is unknown.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Bedford train crash passenger questions signalling failures after driver confirmed dead and dozens treated in hospital"
}