Details about the Salisbury double train crash recovery efforts were explained by Network Rail in a public briefing today. 

The first carriage was successfully removed from the crash site by Fisherton Tunnel today but the second carriage is proving more difficult to shift. 

The public briefing was held on the rail recovery efforts by Network Rail Wessex, who have taken control of the accident site, by Route Director Mark Killick at 4.30pm today. 

Everything we learnt about the Salisbury train crash recovery efforts

Journal reporter Katy Griffin reported on the public briefing live from St Mark's Church and these key updates were given by Network Rail Route Director Mark Killick. 

  • Two of the carriages from the GWR train were separated and sent back to the depot yesterday

  • A 750 tonne crane is being used to lift the remaining five carriages off the tracks

  • One of the five carriages was removed this afternoon and put on the back of a lorry and taken away so there are four left to remove

  • Unfortunately 'because of the way its sitting' they were unable to remove the second carriage as it is 'locked in' where the impact happened

  • They can only work during daylight hours as "it is not safe to do so at night", so the second carriage will have to be removed tomorrow at the earliest

  • They are looking to get London Road open as quickly as they can, but did not give a time indication

  • They hope to have all five carriages removed by the weekend and then will start work on the track and power cables. 

  • The track is still likely to be closed until "at least" the end of next week

Video of Mark Killik addressing residents at St Mark's Church 

Speaking to the Journal, Mr Killick said: "The currrent situation is we have got five carriages down on the track from the tunnel. We have removed the first one by pulling it out of the tunnel and lifting with a 750 tonne crane from the road. Lifting that over the bridge and onto the back of a large lorry to take it away. That is the first carriage that has gone by road. 

"We are currently working on removing the second one of five. The second one is proving quite difficult to get out because it is wedged in where the impact happened.
"It is difficult to give an exact timescale. We are hoping to all the five carriages removed by the weekend, which will allow us then to start the process of removing the damaged track and replacing it and replacing all the signalling and power cables which have been damaged."

He said that they imagine the railway track won't be open until at least the end of next week. 

The removal of the trains, he said, was particularly difficult because it is in a cutting and lower than the road and the trains were "joined together where they've come together in the tunnel.

He added: "So access to the site is very challenge hence we are having to use a crane to pull this train out.

"It is a challenging recovery."

The trains can only be lifted out during daylight hours so they weren't able to work around the clock. 

"Once the trains have gone we will then work around the clock."

Reopening of the road

Mr Killick said that said while the trains were being lifted the road needed to remain closed as cranes are blocking the road. 

"Once we've completed te recovery we should be able to allow pedestrians to walk back through again."

But in terms of vehicle access it would be looked at and whether it was possible to relocate the cabins of its welfare facilities teams to an alternative site, the allotment site, and take them off the road that would enable them "reinstate the road in some way" after the weekend. 

"We don't expect the trains to be removed until the weekend," he added. 

In terms of the work needed on the track they would look to limit "bigger, noisy work" to daytime hours. 

'Understanding what went wrong'

"An interim report has been issued with initial findings. But we don't know more than that. There is a lot more data to analyse and more things to look at. It would be too early to comment on why," said Mr Killick. 

"We're just focused on making sure that we are supporting all the investigations. We need to understand as an industry what went wrong  and prevent it happening again. But also focusing on getting the railway back open for everybody."

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