Helicopter footage has been released by ITV News showing the freight train that set on fire and derailed.
The freight train caught fire last night, marking a huge emergency response to Llangennech, near Llanelli in South Wales.
Three of the oil tankers caught fire, and an 800 metre evacuation zone was put in place, with local roads closed.
Major incident declared and homes evacuated after large diesel train catches fire near Llanelli https://t.co/qUTM7t4Hne pic.twitter.com/va4jurDZZ7
— ITV News (@itvnews) August 27, 2020
Transport for Wales has said that all lines are currently blocked. This means that no trains can run between Llanelli and Llandrindod.
Disruption is expected until the end of the day, with disruption expected on all routes.
Please note also that the Heart of Wales line between Llandrindod and Shrewsbury is also closed due to extreme weather.
This means that buses will replace trains between Llandrindod and Shrewsbury, and Llandrindod and Llanelli.
Robert Faraday, the rear loco wasn’t part of the train. It was sent there to remove the rear section from the train. Please don’t make rash statements without knowing the facts. It creates panic and blame for something that is not factual, however well intended your theory was meant to be.
The pictures seem to show two locos in operation.With trains generally travelling on the left tracks, this is a puzzle. If the leading loco momentarily lost power and the rear loco continued to push, then a disaster was pending. In other countries, especially the USA with trains that take 15 minutes to “pass”, their three locos are all together at the front.
Until RAIB report back we will not know the cause of derailment, but the presence of point work at the site seems a good place to start. These loaded tanks run at 25 tons per axle, so little room for error where something is less than perfect. Sheared axles are another cause, but less frequent.
As Hugh quite rightly said this was on The Double Track Swansea District Line and not on the Single track Heart of Wales line. Unlike the HOW line this section of line is predominantly used by Freight Traffic to serve The Oil Refinery at Milford Haven and The Tata Steel Trostre Tinplate Works. One contributor said that this was Wales’s worst Railway Disaster. No, in 1987 The Glanrhyd Bridge collapsed on HOW line which caused a DMU to go into The River Tywi. Unlike Llangennech at Glanrhyd there were fatalities.
As Hugh quite rightly said this wasn’t on the single track Heart of Wales line but on the double track Swansea District Line junction. Unlike the HOW this section of line is predominantly used by Freight Traffic for the Milford Haven Refinery and Tata Steel Trostre Tinplate Works. One contributor said that this is Wales’s worst railway disaster. No, in 1987 The Glanrhyd Bridge collapsed on the HOW which resulted in a DMU going into The River Tywi. Unlike Llangennech at Glanrhyd there were fatalities.
No great surprise there. The HoW is a whole series of accidents waiting to happen due to an abysmal lack of maintenance and no will on the part of TfW or Network Wail to invest any money whatsoever in the line. Indeed whilst billions are being spent on the Cardiff metro, nothing has been allocated to the HoW for the foreseeable future which means useless timetabling, unreliable 153s and 150s, and failure after failure will just continue.
Since the start of the year the HoW line has been one closure after another and during the Covid crisis only one train ran in each direction effectively meaning “don’t travel”. In recent months this has become two trains per day on a Sunday timetable which is little use to anyone living (as I do) near the line if they want to shop in Shrewsbury or Swansea or even Ammanford.
The last closure due to a bridge “incident” near Hendy Junction was not as people were led to believe a “bridge strike” but because the longitudinal timbers were in such poor condition that the gauge could have spread under a train. There is a photo on the South Wales Guardian’s Web site but little mentioned else where.
So nobody cares about what should be one of Wales’s treasures…
Not on HoW line, it’s on District line, at Morlais junction with HoW.
As I saw it on the news this morning. I was shocked to see the devastation and carnage. Stay strong Wales 😢🏴
Very sad. Hope that no one wasn’t injured or killed. Looks dreadful. Just like what happened at Stonehaven in Scotland few weeks ago. Now it’s Wales to see its worst rail accident in their history. 😢🏴❤️
Oh Deary, Deary Me… So sorry to hear, let alone learn of A Derailment/Tanker Train Fire in Wales.
I do hope the mess is cleared up, Along with the line be reopened again at some point, Also my heart once agaain goes to those affected by this dreadful shock derailment turned train fire over in the West of the Border (Wales).
I do believe the weather is to blame, It may of done soemthing to that very stretch of the Heart of Wales line that must of lead to the unexpected derailment, let alone cause said derailment a light.
Not too long ago, There had been that nexpected Stonehaven Derailment over in the North of the Border (Scotland).
Let’s hope once this has been dealt with, Everything out there shall be as back to normal in anywas possible.