Updated 14.10

A fatal head-on collision between two passenger trains in mid-Wales may have been caused by low rail adhesion due to fallen leaves.

The trains collided last night at Talerddig at about 19.30. They were the 18.31 from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth and the 19.09 from Machynlleth to Shrewsbury.

One man was killed and 15 others are reported to have needed hospital treatment, although their injuries are not thought to have been critical.

The man who died was a passenger on one of the trains.

Emergency services have been at the scene all night, and railway inspectors from the Office of Rail and Road have been gathering evidence. Transport for Wales has also launched its own inquiry. The Cambrian line is closed east of Machynlleth, and replacement buses are running today.

The accident was close to the Talerddig passing loop. Early reports say one of the trains did not stop in the loop and then collided with the train approaching from the other direction.

Anthony Hurford, a passenger on the down train, told the BBC he felt ‘pretty shellshocked’.

He continued: ‘The word that keeps coming to my head is just brutal really. Just going from, I don't know how fast we were going, maybe 40, 50, 60 miles an hour, to nothing in the blink of an eye.

‘Somehow my body bent the leg of a table and ripped it off its bolts attached to the wall. Suddenly I was on the floor with my laptop strewn ahead of me, wondering what the hell had happened.’

He said the driver had tried to stop, but ‘for whatever reason the train wouldn't stop.’

Network Rail’s director of safety and engineering Martin Frobisher said: ‘We are deeply saddened by the train crash that occurred in Wales last night. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragic incident, including passengers, train-crew members, and their families. We are working closely with the emergency services and the multi-agency team to fully understand the circumstances of what happened and why.

‘Our immediate priority is to help support those impacted and to assist investigators in determining the cause of the crash. Such serious railway accidents are rare, and we are determined to make them rarer still.’

Fallen leaves were blamed for a side collision between two trains on a junction at one portal of Salisbury tunnel on 31 October 2021, in which 14 people were hurt. The last fatal accident involving passengers on a British railway was the derailment of a ScotRail HST near Carmont in August 2020.

A fatal head on collision also occurred on the Cambrian line near the former station of Abermule on 26 January 1921, in which 17 lives were lost. The accident was caused by a misunderstanding. The inquiry reported that one of the trains had been carrying the single line tablet for the previous section.