Not even 24 hours since a train had derailed nearby to Lewes in East Sussex, a derailment also occurred in Wickford, Essex.
Network Rail, the national railway authority in the UK, are insisting that their trains are “among the safest in the world” after the second derailment taking place within 24 hours. Where they also say the UK’s fifth heatwave has “presented challenges to the railway”.
British Transport Police had confirmed the rear carriages of a Greater Anglia train derailed in Wickford, where confirmed to be “in an upright position”, adding that no casualties were reported. Two people from the Lewes train derailment, were severely injured.
Network Rail’s Stance
Network Rail’s safety and engineering director, Martin Frobisher, said it was “working quickly to understand the situation and provide assistance where needed.”.
He also urged people to avoid speculation on the cause of the Wickford & Lewes train derailments, and that Network Rail themselves would conduct internalized investigations to look at the causes and factors.
The Derailment
The derailed train in question, was operated by the railway company Greater Anglia, working a service from Southend to Liverpool with 40 people aboard. The service departed Rayleigh around 14.06 but failed to reach Wickford at 14.11 as scheduled.
National Rail had declared that all lines running between Wickford and Southend Victoria were closed, leaving other trains scheduled to operate to Liverpool and Southend Victoria would be cancelled.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) stated on X, that it deployed a group of inspectors to the derailment site to gather evidence for investigation.
Greater Anglia on X, had tweeted at 14.33 p.m., that due to “a problem currently under investigation” between Shenfield & Southend Victoria that “all lines are blocked” and services running to & from the stations are suspended.
Greater Anglia then issued a “do not travel” notice for Shenfield to Southend Victoria “until further notice”, where ticket restrictions have been temporarily lifted; meaning tickets dated for 14/08/2026 would be usable tomorrow.
Tickets are also accepted on Circle Line between Liverpool Street and Tower Hill for Fenchurch Street, Jubilee Line between Stratford and Westham and C2C services between Liverpool Street, Fenchurch Street, West Ham and Southend Central.
Twenty-four Hours Before…
A major incident was declared by the British Transport Police yesterday afternoon after a derailment took place nearby to Lewes, where 150 people had been aboard a train travelling from London Victoria to Eastbourne. Southern is urging customers to plan travel this weekend to check ahead for disruptions taking place until further notice. Trains are to extremely busy, where customers should allow at least one extra hour for their journey.
Network Rail also opened statement about the challenges the ever-so hot and dry weather conditions have presented challenges toward the railway. Where they stated to taken several additional steps to manage and mitigate impacts on the railway, such as closely monitoring track temperature and implementation of speed restrictions.
A chief executive of Greater Thameslink Railway, John Whitehurst, praises four railway workers aboard the derailed train – driver, onboard supervisor, spare dare, off-duty member of staff – who initial reports suggested had “acted quickly to help make the railway safe and support passengers during the evacuation.”.
A spokesperson from the Department of Transport also claimed: “We are aware of a derailment involving a Greater Anglia train near Wickford, Essex. The train is upright, there are no reported injuries and investigators have already been deployed”. They also added that: “Our railways remain amongst the safest in the world and while incidents like this are extremely rare, when they do occur, they are taken very seriously.”
