West coast mainline shuts

The west coast mainline was closed for more than 12 hours yesterday after a train derailed in Buckinghamshire.

The route partially reopened last night after a freight train engine came off the tracks at Bletchley in the early hours of yesterday morning.

Network Rail said the train may have been going too fast before the incident.

“You are meant to approach points at a relatively low speed,” a spokesman said. “But it looks like that move was taken at a high speed and, as a result, the train has derailed.”

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch is conducting an investigation.