Wednesday 24 Jun 2026

Network Rail issues statement following RAIB publication on Bedford train collision

Region & Route:
National
| Eastern
| Eastern: East Midlands

Network Rail has issued a media statement following the Rail Accident Investigation Branch's (RAIB) interim statement, published today (Wednesday 24 June), into the Bedford train collision, which occurred on Friday 19 June. 

Ellie Burrows, Regional Managing Director, Network Rail Eastern, said:

“Following the publication of the investigation update from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB), we are fully committed to working as an industry to support the continuing investigation to understand exactly what happened.   

“We are deeply sorry that this has happened on our railway, and our thoughts remain with all those affected, particularly those passengers who were badly injured and the loved ones of driver Shaun Burton, who so tragically lost his life. 

“Incidents like this are extremely rare on Britain’s railways which remain among the safest in the world but, when they do happen, we are determined to fully understand why.  

“We will continue to work alongside East Midlands Railway and all our industry partners to support the investigation and ensure the railway continues to operate safely.  

“We are cooperating fully with RAIB and the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), and will carefully consider any findings as they emerge - acting quickly on any lessons and sharing learning across the industry.” 

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors

For previous media statements, please refer to the Network Rail media centre: Network Rail Media Centre - National & regional news 

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About Network Rail

We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.

Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.

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