The family of Shaun Burton, the train driver killed when two London-bound services collided near Bedford on Friday, have said they are “devastated by his loss”.
The 60-year-old, a driver with East Midlands Railway for seven years, died in the crash that injured 100 people, 11 of them very seriously. His family, in a statement released by British Transport Police, said: “Our thoughts are also with those affected by this incident.” They released a photograph of him and asked for privacy as they began to come to terms with what the police called “this devastating loss”.
“Shaun Burton's family say they are devastated after he died in the Bedford train crash that injured 100.”
Dave Calfe, general secretary of the train drivers’ union Aslef, said the railway family was heartbroken. “No-one should go off to work in the morning and not come home,” he said. Calfe described Burton, who joined the railway “relatively late in life” after working on buses and coaches, as “dedicated to the job, devoted to his colleagues and enormously popular at his depot”.
William Rogers, managing director of EMR, said Burton was a “dedicated railway professional” known for his “quick-wit, kind, generous, and intelligent nature, and for always having a smile on his face”. Burton, who lived in Great Stukeley, Cambridgeshire, also served as a local parish councillor and a member of Huntingdonshire Council.
The collision happened at 17:15 BST on Friday, just south of Elstow, near the A421 and A6 interchange. The 16:40 service from Corby smashed into the rear of the 15:50 train from Nottingham, both heading to London St Pancras. Eleven people were very seriously injured, 32 were seriously hurt and 57 had minor injuries, the East of England Ambulance Service confirmed. Police said 28 people remained in hospital, including nine in a critical condition.
Passenger Pete Knapp described smoke filling the carriage and people “crying, screaming … so scared and confused”. Brett Byatt, travelling from Bedford, told BBC Breakfast he heard a “boom” followed by “shrieks and groans of pain”. Simon Bentley, who was on the Nottingham train, said he felt the train brake “really hard, which seemed odd”. He told the BBC: “We’re very lucky and obviously very, very sad about what’s happened to the driver.”
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch said its inspectors were gathering evidence and would conduct a “full, independent safety investigation”. Network Rail said the line between Bedford and Luton would remain closed until at least 28 June while engineers carried out a “complex recovery operation”, using two 110-tonne cranes to lift damaged carriages on to trailers for removal by road. Thameslink urged passengers to travel only if necessary.
King Charles said he was “greatly saddened” by the crash, and that his thoughts were with the family of the deceased and all those affected. Aslef’s Calfe summed up the grief of many: “We are all heartbroken … which leaves a hole in the lives of his family, friends and colleagues that will never be filled.”