Transport for Wales train hits tractor and trailer on farm crossing near Leominster

A Transport for Wales train has collided with a tractor and trailer on a farm crossing near Leominster.

The 0830 Manchester Piccadilly-Cardiff Central service hit the vehicles on Nordan Farm crossing on the Marches Line in Herefordshire, between Woofferton and Leominster, just before 1040.

British Transport Police said six people were assessed by paramedics (one of those is understood to be the train driver) with two treated for injuries “not thought to be serious”. 

The train, which was carrying 56 passengers, is one of TfW’s Mk 4 sets. It was running around 23 minutes late when the collision occurred and did not derail in the collision.

BTP later confirmed a man had been arrested.

A statement said: "A 32-year-old man from Bromyard has been arrested on suspicion of endangering safety on the railway. Enquiries remain ongoing into the full circumstances leading up to the incident."

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch has also attended the scene.

A spokeswoman said: “RAIB has sent a team of inspectors to Leominster in Herefordshire who are at the site of a collision between a passenger train and an agricultural trailer at a user-worked level crossing.

"|Our inspectors will gather evidence as part of the process of conducting a preliminary examination and a decision on whether an investigation will be launched will be taken in the coming days.”

The collision has blocked the line with rail replacement buses expected to run between Shrewsbury and Hereford until at least the end of the day.