On board the 18:31 to Aberystwyth as it smashed into another train

On Monday evening, Jonah Evans was relaxing connected a train, watching a Netflix play and wholly unaware helium was astir to beryllium progressive successful a fatal bid crash.

"The operator comes moving done the doors and shouts ‘brace yourselves, brace yourselves, we're going to deed different train’," says the 25-year-old.

He had conscionable seconds to get into presumption earlier impact.

"I was thinking… ‘it’s been a bully ride, it's been a bully life’."

One rider died, 4 were earnestly injured and a further 11 radical required infirmary attraction pursuing the crash.

The creator and graphic decorator had conscionable spent a play celebrating his day with friends successful Bristol and was heading location to Borth, Ceredigion, erstwhile the clang happened astatine astir 19:30 BST.

He says that aft his bid deed a stationary one, everything felt similar it was successful dilatory motion.

Passengers connected the 18:31 westbound work from Shrewsbury to Aberystwyth, were thrown from their seats. Mr Evans was uninjured, isolated from whiplash.

"Seeing each those radical upset was horrible.... it benignant of feels similar a fever dream," helium says.

"This 1 miss was truly crying out, she was astatine a array spot and it due deed her successful the mediate of her assemblage and she started throwing up," helium says.

"She started crying rather a lot... it was beauteous horrendous."

He recalled seeing radical astir him with rib injuries, 1 idiosyncratic with a dislocated oregon breached limb and different idiosyncratic who had mislaid immoderate teeth.

Another rider Bethan Evans, who was knocked unconscious connected the aforesaid bid arsenic Mr Evans, recalled seeing waking up to find passengers "flown retired of their seats".

"The past happening I retrieve is speechmaking 1 of my books and looking astatine the time," she says.

"I saw a fewer radical with breached bones and proceeding exigency CPR being called and a batch of unit moving down."

Anthony Hurford, who was connected the different bid - the 19:09 bid from Machynlleth to Shrewsbury - recovered himself connected the floor "wondering what the hellhole had happened".

"The connection that keeps coming to my caput is conscionable brutal really," helium told BBC Breakfast.

"Somehow my assemblage bent the limb of a array and ripped it disconnected its bolts attached to the wall.

"Suddenly I was connected the level with my laptop strewn up of me."

Tudor Evans, 66, from Capel Dewi successful Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, who was successful the 2nd carriage, died pursuing the clang - which happened adjacent the colony of Llanbrynmair successful Powys.

On Thursday, his person Iestyn Leyshon told the Newyddion S4C app that helium and his woman had "just begun to question aft years of enactment and past this calamity happens".

The mates were returning from a vacation successful Italy astatine the clip of the crash.

His household have thanked people for "kind messages and support", and asked for privacy.

The clang happened connected the Cambrian Line connected a azygous track, adjacent to a passing loop wherever other travelling trains tin walk each other.

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said archetypal grounds suggested the clang occurred astatine a velocity of astir 24 km/h (15 mph).

It said it had deployed a squad of inspectors to the tract and connected archetypal inspection recovered grounds that instrumentality to obstruction adhesion was comparatively low, suggesting the bid whitethorn person entered into instrumentality descent erstwhile braking.

It said debased adhesion would beryllium an country of ongoing investigation.

But what is debased adhesion?

"That’s the jargony mode of saying that the trains’ wheels are not gripping the apical of the obstruction decently truthful you’re getting a sliding situation," says obstruction technologist and obstruction and transport writer Gareth Dennis.

"So if the breaks are being applied the bid is conscionable sliding on connected apical of the rail."

He says it could beryllium caused by fallen leaves "or sometimes you get precise unusual combinations of mist and rainfall that tin extremity up creating a spot of an oily aboveground connected apical of the obstruction caput and that’s highly slippery".

“What volition beryllium absorbing is knowing wherefore we got to a concern wherever the obstruction was truthful slippery arsenic a bid deed different train," helium says.

"We person systems successful spot to forestall that from happening and those haven’t worked truthful we ned to recognize wherefore and that mightiness necessitate immoderate introspection from the industry."

“The crushed obstruction incidents go large quality similar this is due to the fact that they’re highly uncommon events and that’s a bully thing," says Mr Dennis.

The National Rail website states that bid question "remains 1 of the safest modes of transport successful Great Britain".

One of the UK's astir high-profile bid accidents of past twelvemonth was successful September 2023, erstwhile the Flying Scotsman collided with stationary carriages astatine Aviemore Station successful the Scottish Highlands, injuring 2 people.

The past bid clang successful Wales happened successful 1991 wrong the Severn Tunnel, which allows question betwixt south-west England and southbound Wales.

On 7 December, 1991, the 08:30 from London Paddington to Cardiff Central was stopped astatine a awesome astatine the tunnel’s entrance.

The train’s operator was advised of a awesome nonaccomplishment and told to proceed with caution, but astir 3 miles into the tunnel, it was rear-ended by a people 155 Sprinter travelling from Portsmouth to Cardiff.

A full of 185 radical were injured successful the collision, 5 of whom were earnestly hurt.

It is not yet wide erstwhile we volition find retired precisely what happened connected Monday.

Network Rail's way director, Nick Millington, says the probe is going to beryllium "complex".

TfW main operating serviceman Jan Chaudhry-van der Velde says a afloat study would instrumentality respective months to beryllium processed.

Mr Dennis says it is imperative the nationalist were fixed wide answers.

"To reassure the nationalist the manufacture needs to beryllium honest, not fell down 'well the regulator said this, the regulator said that' and beryllium honorable with the nationalist astir however this has happened," helium says.

He says aft the RAIB gives its last study the manufacture should "respond constructively and successful a mode that shows immoderate contrition that thing has gone wrong".

"Because thing has gone incorrect here," helium says.

"For determination to beryllium 2 trains crashing into 1 different and resulting radical being injured and worse, thing has gone wrong."