Passengers on derailed Tube train feared 7/7 all over again

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Hundreds of terrified Tube passengers were trapped in a tunnel for two hours today after a train derailed during the morning rush hour.

Commuters told how they feared another 7/7-style terror attack had taken place as the Central Line train careered off the tracks at about 30mph before screeching to a halt.

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Emergency services were quickly on hand. One woman said passengers were in tears, thinking it was a repeat of 7/7

Escape: passengers make their way through the tunnel after being trapped for up to two hours

Police have ruled out terrorism but rail investigators were looking at the possibility that something was left on the line.

Thirty-seven passengers needed treatment for problems such as panic attacks, breathing difficulties and an ankle injury.

The incident happened just after 9am between Mile End and Bethnal Green stations in East London as the train headed into the capital.

It is thought six carriages came off the track but the train remained in an upright position.

Jacqui McElroy, 34, a make-up artist, said: "It is always rocky but this time the carriage went up and it felt like we had gone over something. People were shouting and the driver's voice sounded really shaky - he said he did not know what we had gone over, but that we had derailed.

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A fleet of ambulances outside Mile End Tube station

Injured: A passenger carried on a spinal board

Relief: A mother carries her young child out of Mile End today

"Obviously the first thing that goes through your mind is 'Is it terrorists?'."

John Higgins, 34, a transport designer from Chigwell, Essex, said: "We felt the train slow down and it started filling with smoke. Going through our minds was that there was a bomb somewhere because of all the noise."

Howard Collins, deputy chief operating officer for London Underground, said the driver thought some "sheeting" had blocked the track.

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A victim with suspected spinal injury is lifted into an ambulance

He added: "Initial reports from the driver are he saw something white flapping in the tunnel, before he hit it. There was a loud noise and then he hit the brakes. The train came to a stop 800ft from the obstruction it hit." About 900 passengers, including those from the derailed Tube and others in a second train behind it, walked more than half a mile to Mile End station.

The Rail Maritime and Transport Union said it had repeatedly warned London Underground of safety issues on that section of track. General secretary Bob Crow said it was the fourth incident in 18 months in the same area where private contractors were operating.

A spokesman for London Underground said an investigation was under way. He added: "Every night some form of maintenance work and checks are carried out on this section of the Central Line.

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The train derailed at Bethnal Green Station on the Central Line

"It looked like some form of white sheeting had fallen on to the track. It is definitely some form of error or accident rather than a deliberate action."

The incident happened only a few stops from Chancery Lane station on the Central Line where 32 passengers were injured in a derailment in January 2003.

Seven passengers were hurt in a derailment at Camden Town station in October 2003.

A shocked woman is given oxygen

 

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