Seven in hospital after London Tube derailment

Seven people were taken to hospital today after a second derailment on the London Underground in less than 48 hours.

A Northern Line train carrying about 200 people derailed and hit a wall as it pulled into Camden Town station, north London, at 10.10am.

Early indications were that the accident was caused by a problem with the track and not the train, London Underground said.

One man in his 20s suffered a head injury but it was not thought to be serious.

Another man, believed to be in his late 30s, broke his left thigh bone, said a spokesman for the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, north London, where the victims were taken.

Several more of the injured were taken away on stretchers and taken to hospital. Most were discharged after treatment.

Seven more people received minor injuries and were treated at the scene, according to Darren Dovey, assistant divisional officer of the London Fire Brigade.

Eyewitness Harry Anscombe, who lives in the area, described the chaotic scenes immediately after the accident.

“There were fire crews and ambulance people helping, ushering people up the escalators, passengers with blackened faces,” he told Sky News.

“I saw one man who had bandages and blood streaming down his face.”

He said there were fire crews wearing breathing apparatus and that there was a lot of dust in the air.

“The derailment had caused a lot of dust so everyone was covered in this black, black dust from the Tube.”

The station was busy with shoppers and tourists on their way to Camden’s shops and markets when the incident happened – the third Tube derailment this year.

The last carriage of the train left the tracks 30 metres inside the tunnel at Camden Town station, Mr Dovey said.

In all, three carriages were left inside the tunnel, he said.

“All of the injured were in the last carriage which had derailed about 30 metres into the tunnel,” he said.

“These people were removed by stretcher to save them further distress.”

A London Underground spokeswoman said initial reports were that one carriage of the train on the High Barnet branch line hit a wall as it entered the station.

All the passengers were evacuated from the train and the station has been closed.

British Transport Police received a call at 10.11am and officers were at the scene in four minutes, a spokesman said.

They were joined by firefighters and ambulances crews, who took the injured to the Royal Free Hospital.

Mike Strzelecki, London Underground’s director of safety, said it appeared that the accident may have been caused by track problems.

“Early indications are that the last bogey of the fifth carriage derailed and the last car derailed entirely,” he said.

“Early indications are this was a problem with the track rather than the train.

“If it’s a problem with the track, our people can fix that very quickly, it might be one or two days. If it’s a problem with the train, it could be longer.”

Mr Strzelecki said tracks were inspected every 24 or 48 hours depending on how heavily they were used.

“Camden Town is heavily used and I imagine it’s inspected every 24 hours.”

Mr Strzelecki added: “It should have been checked as a matter of course. Whether it was, I cannot say for certain.”

On Friday evening, a Piccadilly Line train came off the tracks between Hammersmith and Barons Court stations in west London.

During that incident, passengers described hearing “a big bang” and seeing smoke and sparks in the derailment that caused travel chaos for thousands of travellers.

None of the 76 passengers on board was injured.

It emerged yesterday that a fractured rail which caused the derailment was inspected less than 24 hours before the accident, yet the problem was not spotted.

In January, a Central Line train derailed and hit a tunnel wall at Chancery Lane station.

About 30 people needed hospital treatment and the Central Line service was disrupted for months following the incident.

The leader of the country’s biggest rail union threatened industrial action today unless maintenance contracts given to private companies earlier this year were immediately suspended in the wake of this weekend’s accidents.

Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport Union, told PA News: “If the Mayor of London, Transport Commissioner or the Government do not take action to suspend these contracts, then I shall be recommending to my executives and to the other rail unions on London Underground that we ballot to take strike action to defend the safety of our members and the travelling public.”

A spokesman for the RMT union said some drivers had reported problems with this section of track at Camden Town before today’s derailment.

“Our understanding is that there have been several reports from operational staff – drivers – that there were problems with a rough ride over that particular bit of track,” he said.

A spokeswoman for Tube Lines, the private consortium responsible for maintenance of the Northern Line, said it was investigating when the track was last checked.

She said she was not immediately aware that drivers had previously raised concerns about that stretch of track.