A train approaching Swindon ‘nearly derailed’ when it collided with a trolley left on the line by railway engineers working a night shift.
The 5.23am Great Western Railway (GWR) service was travelling between Paddington and Swansea on Thursday (21 October) when it struck the trolley at around 125mph.
The incident happened near Wantage at around 6.20am, whilst the busy early morning train travelled out of Didcot and into Swindon.
It is understood the trolley became wedged under the train and could have caused a derailment.
The train remained stationary whilst the wagon, used to move engineering equipment, was cut free from under the train.
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The operation to safely remove the trolley — which also involved an inspection of the railways line — took several hours.
A dozen rush-hour services were rerouted, delayed or cancelled as a result of the incident.
“The train initiated an emergency broadcast after striking a trolley left behind after overnight engineering works”, a railway source said.
They added: “Part of the trolley was wedged underneath the train.
“Trolleys are used to move tools and equipment along the rails from an acess point to the site of work.
“All trolleys, and any other machines, are recorded as entering and leaving but this one was obviously missed.
“The train sustained some damage, as did a set of points (junction).
“The train nearly derailed. It was luckily it remained on the line because any object becoming embedded in the wheels at high speed could cause a derailment.”
Full of early morning travellers, many took to Twitter to express their concerns about the delays.
Teresa Sarsfield wrote: “Help. Daughter stuck in Reading Station trying to fulfill (sic) journey to Swindon. Told nothing stopping at Swindon but no one has further info.”
Cycling Jim tweeted: “Morning, do you know what’s up with trains to Paddington from Newbury. All seem delayed or cancelled?”
At after 8.30am, GWR spokesperson replied to confirm that a track safety inspection was being undertaken.
A GWR spokesperson said: “We’re really sorry for any inconvenience caused to customers travelling between Swindon and Didcot on Thursday morning.
“Journeys were disrupted due to an object on the line.
“We would encourage anyone delayed by more than 15 minutes to claim compensation through our Delay Repay scheme.”
Network Rail did not respond to our request for comment.
