Lee Ryder has recalled how it felt travelling on Saturday night (1 November) when the terrifying knife attacks unfolded on an LNER train from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, to London King’s Cross
All of a sudden, football became less important last night on the East Coast Mainline when a replacement bus service felt like much less of an inconvenience. The LNER train incident puts everything into perspective.
As we try to process the train horror on what felt like a normal Saturday night, your prayers and thoughts are with those who have been badly affected and face potential life-changing injuries, according to reports.
With planned disruptions meaning Newcastle United fans travelling south were faced with a replacement bus from Darlington to Doncaster, there were huge queues as travellers and supporters heading to and from games mixed along the route. My journey had started after saying goodbye to family at teatime and all seemed normal as Central Station bustled with North-East folk heading for trains south or heading into the city for an autumnal evening out.
READ MORE: Major update on Huntingdon train stabbing victims fighting for their livesREAD MORE: Cambridgeshire train stabbing: Details of ‘major incident’ as nine people left severely injured
Some Newcastle fans watched England’s rugby union match on big screens in the station foyer or queued for coffee and sandwiches for the journey ahead. But nothing could quite prepare anybody for what was to come next.
I was fortunate as I opted to get a later train to London Kings Cross from Tyneside on Saturday night but like many will have looked at the train that ended up on the ill-fated LNER service that was brought to an emergency stop at Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire.
As our train pulled into Newark, the first thing we heard of the sickening incident was that an emergency incident had held up the service. But by 11pm the train manager announced that the service would be heading back to Doncaster or passengers could get off and make their own arrangements which LNER pledged to refund.
Still unsure of the full scale of the atrocity, it emerged that up to nine people had been stabbed and two people arrested. But it was only when reaching Peterborough that you got a full sense of the scale of the incident.
Like Huntington, there were many emergency services on hand to keep people safe while LNER staff pulled off an incredible job getting people to hotels or back home. As bus after bus of passengers got off at Peterborough the shock of what had unfolded at a rapid rate was clear to see.
Families who had been enjoying a half-term treat in London looked mortified, younger kids were asleep on the shoulders of mams and dads oblivious to what had gone on, and the elderly were also helped professionally by LNER staff off the buses.
Some had clearly just jumped on any bus to get away from potential further danger, while others still had big journeys ahead, back to Retford, Doncaster, York, Newcastle, and Edinburgh. But the calmness and empathy of LNER’s staff was there for all to see.
I eventually got to my hotel in London just after 3am this morning, still processing what had gone on and how some people were in a much worse position. Some still queued at Peterborough station in the small hours of the morning.
But thoughts don’t stray from those affected most badly and those who witnessed the horrific scenes. The train in question still sits in Huntingdon, and the haunted carriage is now a crime scene.
