Train carriage 'lifted in air' in crash with tractor and trailer crossing line
A train carriage was lifted up into the air before crashing back onto the tracks after colliding with a tractor and trailer which was crossing the line, a court heard.
The Arriva Trains Wales service was taking 87 passengers and four staff between Birmingham and Aberystwyth when a tractor driven by Ifan Gwyn Evans crossed the track in front of it, Welshpool Magistrates Court was told.
Driver Adam Miller hit the emergency brake, closed his eyes and braced for collision before feeling an "enormous crash", the court heard.
Extensive damage was caused to the front of the train and a female conductor was thrown to the ground during the crash which happened at Buttington, near Welshpool at 11.45am on July 16. Evans, 28, from Penyffordd, Llanfihangel, near Llanfyllin and co-accused John Elwyn Roberts, 74, of Oldford Rise, Welshpool, appeared before magistrates yesterday, where they both denied a charge of endangering the safety of people on the railway.
A number of farmers in tractors – including Evans – were using the crossing on the day of the crash to move silage between farms, while Roberts manned the crossing, calling the Machynlleth signal room to ask for permission for the tractors to cross, the court heard.
Mrs Helen Tench, prosecuting, said: "Mr Miller engaged the emergency brake, closed his eyes and braced himself before hearing and feeling what he described as an enormous crash.
"The carriage was lifted off the tracks and came crashing back on the rails before coming to a stop 40 metres down the line.
"During the crash a female conductor was thrown to the ground."
Mrs Tench said Arriva Trains Wales is seeking £5,297 compensation for the line blockage and said the cost of damage to the train is still unknown.
Magistrates said the case was too serious to be heard at the court and adjourned the case to Mold Crown Court on December 6.
Both men were placed on unconditional bail.
