East Midland Railway Collision

Debate between Heidi Alexander and Juliet Campbell

Monday 22nd June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Heidi Alexander]

I give Arthur my best wishes, and I am pleased to hear that, while he sustained injuries, he is hopefully on the road to recovery. Let me reassure my hon. Friend that the RAIB and the British Transport police, who are involved in investigations, will be appropriately resourced and equipped to do their work thoroughly. As I said in my statement, we are anticipating an update from the RAIB in the coming days, and I will ensure that he is kept informed.

[Juliet Campbell (Broxtowe) (Lab)]

I thank the Secretary of State for her statement and for keeping us up to date this weekend. I would like to take this opportunity to offer my condolences to the family and friends of the driver, Shaun Burton, who sadly lost his life following this truly heartbreaking incident, and to send my very best wishes to all those injured on Friday. I would also like to pay tribute to the emergency services, railway staff and local responders for their swift response, ensuring passenger safety and providing urgent emergency care on the scene. Will the Secretary of State provide an update on the work required before services can be safely resumed and how passengers will be kept informed of progress?

[Heidi Alexander]

As I alluded to in my earlier remarks, it is a complicated process to finalise the investigations on site and remove the trains from the track. Some will have to be hoisted off the track by a crane, and we will need to move overhead-line equipment to do that, which will then need to be repaired. The track will also need to be repaired before services can resume. That is why we anticipate the line between Bedford and Luton being closed for the rest of this week. As soon as I have more information on service resumption, I will ensure that Members along the line of route get that information to share with their constituents.