Mum says family 'lucky to be alive' after train crash

A rail passenger has told how she feels "lucky to be alive" after her train crashed with a van, killing the delivery driver.

Sophie Cassidy was travelling in the train when it hit a van on a railway line. The van driver died at the scene in Burscough, West Lancashire, just after 15:00 BST on Saturday.

The 26-year-old's daughter was hit by flying glass when the door to the Northern train driver's compartment sheered off its hinges in the crash on the Wigan Wallgate-Southport train.

The mother-of-two told the BBC: "I can't put into words how lucky we are to be alive. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it all."

The marketing boss was on the train with her son and daughter.

Cassidy said she had looked out through the window and saw the van travelling along a road toward the crossing just before the impact, which happened on the corner of Martin Lane and Whitehouse Lane.

She described the train driver, who quickly came out of his carriage to check on all the passengers, as "an absolute hero".

"The driver came out and spoke to us all and made sure we were all OK," she added.

All the passengers had to remain on the train for at least two hours until they could be led to safety.

Cassidy said: "The fire service got us all down one by one. All the emergency services were offering us counselling."

She had she had been "very tearful" since the incident, thinking about the driver who lost his life.

Two people were treated for injuries at the scene.

Cassidy added her daughter‘s injuries from the glass was thankfully “just a surface wound”.

A British Transport Police (BTP) spokesman said: "Enquiries are ongoing to establish the full circumstances of what happened."

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