Copyright dailyrecord
A terrified Scots passenger on board the derailed Cumbria train feared they had been hit by a terrorist attack as the lights went off as the vehicle grounded to a halt. A major incident was declared after the 4.28am Avanti West Coast service from Glasgow to London came off the tracks in Cumbria at around 6.10am on Monday. The high-speed train is said to have hit a landslide whilst travelling at 80mph before around 130 passengers who were onboard were removed. John Topp, 33, was travelling to a meeting in London when he heard a "loud bang" before the train lost power. Speaking to the Record, John said: "It was terrifying. I was just starting to close my eyes when it happened and I woke up to hear scraping and a very loud bang. "There was a bright flash in the carriage and then the power went out and the train came to a halt. "There was a smell of smoke on the train and my initial thought was that there had been a terrorist attack. It was really scary." Passengers had to walk down the track as they were removed from the train before they were taken to the nearby Shap Wells Hotel. John, who is from Glasgow, added: "I was in the third carriage and the staff seemed quite unfaced by by what had happened. "They made sure everybody was OK, but it didn’t seem like they were very much alarmed. "Then we had to leave and walk down the track. It didn't feel safe at all. "I felt like I was just waiting for something else happening. I just had a really bad gut feeling." John, who works in the legal sector and often travels up and down to London for meetings, has been left with minor injuries following the incident and has been put off travelling by train. He added: "I'm going to the hospital to get checked over. I have a lot of pain in my upper back and neck from the force of the jolt. "It’s me off public transport to be honest. Obviously with the incident that happened on the LNER train at the weekend too when a number of people were stabbed - it's just put me right off it. "I know they are saying it was caused by a landslide, but this shouldn't happen. It could have been a lot worse." British Transport Police confirmed that there were no reported casualties following the incident on Monday morning. First Minister John Swinney, meanwhile, has called for a "detailed investigation" as he said he was “very concerned” about the derailment of the Avanti train. Stressing that “rail travel is normally a very safe way of travel”, the First Minister said that “when these incidents happen, they are matters of enormous concern and require detailed investigation”. Train firm Avanti West Coast strongly advised customers not to travel north of Preston on Monday, adding that significant disruption to the network was expected for a number of days.
