On 19 October 1987, a train on the

Heart of Wales line The Heart of Wales line ( cy, Llinell Calon Cymru) is a railway line running from Craven Arms in Shropshire to Llanelli in southwest Wales. It serves a number of rural centres, including the nineteenth-century spa towns Llandrindod Wells, Llanga ...

derailed and fell into the River Towy due to the partial collapse of the Glanrhyd Bridge near

Llandeilo Llandeilo () is a town and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, situated at the crossing of the River Towy by the A483 on a 19th-century stone bridge. Its population was 1,795 at the 2011 Census. It is adjacent to the westernmost point of the B ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

. Four people died as a result of the tragedy; the driver and three of the passengers drowned.

Description

The event took place early on Monday 19 October 1987. The 05:27 passenger train from

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

, consisting of a two-car Class 108 DMU''Report on the Collapse of Glanrhyd Bridge'' (1990), page 1 fell into the

River Towy The River Towy ( cy, Afon Tywi, ) is one of the longest rivers flowing entirely within Wales. Its total length is . It is noted for its sea trout and salmon fishing. Route The Towy rises within of the source of the River Teifi on the lower sl ...

near

at approximately 07:00. The accident was caused by the Glanrhyd Bridge being partially washed away by the swollen river. The train was moving at only , which was the normal speed limit for this bridge.

Carwyn Davies Carwyn Davies (17 April 1964 – 10 February 1997) was a Welsh international rugby union player. Davies was born in Llandovery, Carmarthenshire. He was a rugby union player for Llanelli and also played seven international matches for Wales bet ...

, a nearby farmer (and amateur rugby player for

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

), had waited until 07:00 for daylight so he could investigate the flooding on his farm. He was from the bridge in a flooded field when he saw that a central section of the railway bridge was missing. He attempted to return to his house to telephone a warning, but had not reached there when he heard the train approaching and saw the first carriage "take off" from the bridge.''Report on the Collapse of Glanrhyd Bridge'' (1990), page 5 Davies later helped rescuers to reach the bridge using his

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...

. Of the ten people on board the train, three passengers and three members of

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

staff managed to escape but the driver and three passengers drowned. Staff on board included a Traffic Manager and an Engineer who were accompanying the train to inspect the route after reports of flooding and track damage had been received the previous day.''Report on the Collapse of Glanrhyd Bridge'' (1990), pages 2-5 The train left the tracks and fell into the swollen river at Glanrhyd Bridge, though the rear carriage remained partially on the rails and above water. While the passengers and staff were calmly making their way through to the rear carriage, the front carriage broke away and was swept downstream with the driver and three of the passengers (a married couple and a teenage schoolboy) still inside.''Report on the Collapse of Glanrhyd Bridge'' (1990), page 7 A result of the incident was that the procedures for checking railway bridges were tightened. Over the following 20 years there were no other rail passenger fatalities in Wales.

Sources

References

External links

BBC Report: Glanrhyd disaster: Memories of train tragedy 30 years onBBC Report: Glanrhyd Rail Disaster
{{Railway accidents in the United Kingdom, 1900–1999, state=collapsed Derailments in Wales Railway accidents in 1987 1987 disasters in the United Kingdom 1987 in Wales 20th century in Carmarthenshire History of Carmarthenshire Bridge disasters in the United Kingdom Bridge disasters caused by scour damage Transport in Carmarthenshire River Towy Llandeilo Accidents and incidents involving British Rail October 1987 events in the United Kingdom