By the time I reached Colwich and parked my car, all I knew was that two InterCity trains had collided at speed, there was widespread destruction on the junction site, and a heavy road crane had been called to assist due to the large area of debris. A Liverpool Lime Street to London Euston train headed by a Class 86/2 electric locomotive had met a northbound Euston to Manchester Class 86/4 hauled train on the flat crossing where the southbound West Coast Main Line and northbound Manchester lines crossed.
When I arrived on site, a fleet of buses and coaches was already leaving with grim-faced train passengers on board. Over 800 people in total had been on board the two trains.
I walked into the accident site alongside the railway chaplain who had arrived at about the same time. I did not envy his task which I guessed would include consoling injured and traumatised passengers being released as recovery got under way.
About two hours earlier, the first person to see that something was wrong was the signalman in the nearby signalbox. Colwich was a junction designed to allow trains to pass through in all directions without severe speedto cross the northbound train’s path; if the line ahead was clear, the signal would change to a clear aspect early enough to enable the driver to maintain 50mph through the junction.
