The Nocton rail crash was a

rail accident Classification of railway accidents, both in terms of cause and effect, is a valuable aid in studying rail (and other) accidents to help to prevent similar ones occurring in the future. Systematic investigation for over 150 years has led to the r ...

that happened on 28 February 2002 near

Nocton Nocton is a village and civil parish in the North Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the B1202 road, south-east from Lincoln city centre. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 819. To the east o ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, England, after a vehicle smashed through a wall and fell onto the railway line. The driver, who was trapped in his van, was talking to emergency services on his mobile phone when his vehicle was hit by an oncoming train, killing him. The incident happened exactly a year to the day after the similar

Great Heck rail crash The Selby rail crash (also known as the Great Heck Rail Crash) was a high-speed train crash that occurred at Great Heck near Selby, North Yorkshire, England, on the morning of 28February 2001. An InterCity 225 passenger train operated by Great ...

Details

John Fletcher, a 47-year-old delivery driver, was driving a white Mercedes Sprinter van along a stretch of road parallel to the B1188 near Nocton when he turned off along a disused road. The road had once led towards a bridge over the railway line; however this bridge had been removed in 1968 and the approach to the line was blocked by a brick wall. Despite this, the road camber remained in place. After travelling along the road, Fletcher's van smashed through the wall and fell onto the railway, trapping him inside the vehicle. At 18:30, as Fletcher was talking on his mobile phone to an emergency services operator, the 15:42

Central Trains Central Trains was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by National Express that operated a variety of local and inter-regional trains from 2 March 1997 until 11 November 2007. Overview Created out of the Central division of ...

service from

Birmingham New Street station Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the British railway system. It is a major destination for Avanti West Coast services from , and vi ...

to via

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln ...

, a two-carriage Sprinter train (156409) travelling at , impacted his van and shunted it along the tracks. According to a police statement the van disintegrated into "a thousand pieces if not more". Fletcher died of multiple injuries. The front carriage of the train was derailed, remaining upright. Fourteen of the train's 41 occupants, including the driver, were taken to

Lincoln County Hospital Lincoln County Hospital is a large district general hospital on the eastern edge of north-east Lincoln, England. It is the largest hospital in Lincolnshire, and offers the most comprehensive services, in Lincolnshire. It is managed by the United ...

with minor injuries.

References

{{coord, 53.1555, -0.4235, region:GB_type:event, display=title Railway accidents in 2002 Railway accidents and incidents in Lincolnshire 2000s in Lincolnshire February 2002 events in the United Kingdom