Britain's Health and Safety Executive and Virgin Trains launched an immediate investigation yesterday to establish why a London-Glasgow Virgin express train crashed into the back of a stationary train in Cheshire, injuring 31 people.
The express train was carrying 132 passengers when it crashed into the regional train, south of Winsford station, after travelling at 100 m.p.h. The driver had slowed it down before it struck the regional train, which was not carrying passengers and is operated by First North Western railway. The Virgin train's locomotive section was hurled six feet in the air and landed on its side.
The driver of the regional train received treatment for a minor head injury. The train was about to travel north to begin its day's operations.
The 31 people injured on the Virgin train were taken by air ambulance to the nearby Leighton Hospital, where five of them were still detained for treatment last night.
A hospital spokesman said that most of the injured were suffering from bumps, bruises and shock. Two of the passengers were being treated for a leg and a back injury.
The crash was the first major incident involving a Virgin train, according to a spokesman for the company.