Great Heck rail disaster 23 years on as Selby tragedy remembered

10 men died and over 80 people were seriously injured when two trains collided in 2001

Author: May NormanPublished 28th Feb 2024

Family and friends are remembering lost loved ones today (28 February) - 23 years on from the fatal Selby rail crash.

Ten people died and more than 80 others were injured when a passenger train - traveling from Newcastle to London - collided with a freight train in 2001.

The crash was caused by a Land Rover which had came to rest on the tracks, after its driver fell asleep on the M62.

The crash was caused when driver Gary Hart's Land Drover came off a motorway bridge and landed on the train track below, at Great Heck, near Selby in North Yorkshire.

The 4.45am Newcastle to London service was partially derailed when it collided with the vehicle at high speed, and the passenger train then crashed head-on with a 1,800 tonne freight train.

The 10 people who died in the disaster were: Steve Dunn, John Weddle, Christopher Terry, Robert Shakespeare, Raymond Robson, Paul Taylor, Barry Needham, Alan Ensor, Clive Vidgen and Stephen Baldwin.

Eight of the deaths were passengers on the London-bound train which saw 86 people injured.

Candles will be lit at Selby Abbey in memory of those who were killed or seriously injury 23 years ago.

Flowers will also be laid at the garden of remembrance close to the site of the collision at Great Heck.

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