A passenger train travelling from Glasgow to London derailed in northwest England on November 3, 2025, after striking a landslip caused by heavy rainfall, emergency services and rail investigators have confirmed.
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The Avanti West Coast service, which had departed Glasgow Central at 04:28, came off the tracks at approximately 06:10 near the village of Shap in Cumbria. The train was carrying 86 passengers and nine staff members at the time of the incident, and was travelling at around 83 mph (134 km/h) when it hit debris washed onto the line.
Despite the seriousness of the derailment, which saw the first bogie lift off the rails and run derailed for approximately 560 metres, only four people sustained minor injuries. All were treated at the scene, and none required hospitalisation. The front carriage left the tracks but remained upright, which likely prevented more serious casualties.
Emergency services declared a “major incident” and dispatched multiple police, fire and ambulance crews to the remote location. All passengers were safely evacuated from the train.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) launched an immediate inquiry into the derailment. Preliminary findings indicate that the incident occurred during a period of “heavy and sustained rainfall” which caused a drainage channel to become overwhelmed.
“The landslip occurred during a period of heavy and sustained rainfall,” the RAIB stated. “A drainage channel, which runs across the slope above the washed-out material, was unable to accommodate the volume of water which was present. This led to the slope material below becoming saturated, initiating the landslip”.
Further investigation revealed that remote monitoring equipment installed at the site had failed to detect the landslip in time to prevent the accident. The sensors, designed to detect ground movement, were recording data but had not been formally entered into operational use, meaning they were not sending alerts to the Network Rail control centre. When the landslip occurred at around 04:30, the sensors were quickly overwhelmed and buried, preventing them from transmitting warnings.
