A second train derailed in southeastern England less than 24 hours after a previous incident, the British Transport Police reported on Friday, noting that its officers are working at the scene.
Law enforcement stated that “the rear carriages of the train derailed but remained upright” just after 14:00 local time (9:00 Eastern Time) on Friday near the town of Wickford in Essex. In its statement, the British Transport Police added: “We are working at the scene alongside paramedics and the fire service. There are no reports of injuries at this time.”
Previous incident and investigation
This incident occurred less than 24 hours after 18 people were injured, including two with serious injuries, as a result of a passenger train derailment near Lewes in East Sussex, approximately 45 miles south of London.
The investigation into the causes of the train derailments is still ongoing, but experts have warned that the extreme heat currently prevailing in England may be one of the factors.
“If the problem lies in the disruption of the track geometry, it could be thermal expansion of the rails, leading to their buckling and deformation,” reported John Lawrence, head of the Railway Technical Profession Network of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, in a comment to the Science Media Centre. He added that “this stress can be exacerbated over several hot days and nights, not allowing the heat to dissipate.”
Source: CNN
