Train crash charge dropped against tractor driver
A tractor driver has been cleared of endangering the safety of train passengers and crew after a crash in Mid Wales.
Ifan Gwyn Evans, 28, of Penyffordd, Llanfyllin, had pleaded not guilty at an earlier hearing but appeared at Mold Crown Court to set a new trial date yesterday.
A trial was due to be held involving him and a co-defendant this week but it was taken out due to a lack of court time.
But the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence against Evans during yesterday's hearing and Judge Niclas Parry recorded a formal not guilty verdict.
Co-defendant John Elwyn Roberts, 74, of Oldford Rise, Welshpool, denied the same charge and he will stand trial at a date to be set in December.
The crash between the passenger train and a tractor and trailer occurred at a farm crossing close to Buttington Hall in Buttington, just north of Welshpool, on July 16, 2013.
The charge alleges that he endangered the safety of railway users following a crash between a Arriva Trains Wales train and the trailer, on the Birmingham to Aberystwyth service at Buttington.
There were about 140 passengers on board the train at the time who were moved to safety and two were taken to Welshpool hospital.
The tractor driver and two other people nearby suffered minor injuries in the collision, which caused significant damage to the front of the train.
The train was travelling from Birmingham International station to Aberystwyth and Pwllheli in Wales.
