Report

Subject:                     Freight Train Derails in East Ayrshire

Date of Email report:   Tue 27/01/2009

Report Detail:

A freight train transporting oil and diesel has derailed and caught fire in East Ayrshire.
Eyewitnesses described flames shooting 50ft high after the incident, south of Stewarton at about 0615 GMT.  At least six wagons came off the rails and some caught fire. No-one is reported to have been injured.  It is understood the train hit a pylon while crossing a bridge, which has now collapsed. Power lines have come down and the nearby A735 has been closed.

'Black smoke'
Ch Supt Martin Ripley, of the British Transport Police, said: "The freight train, which was coming into the depot, has caught fire."  He said the train was carrying fuel and the main focus was putting out the fire.  "I am given to believe that there are two carriages on fire but it is a fairly big and intensive fire," he added.  "It is too early to give any causes. There are no injuries and the matter is contained."  "We have experts coming to the scene and towards the end of the day we will be in a better position to say why this has happened."  John Dicks, who lives about a mile away from the rail line, said: "The fire is raging. There are flames 50ft in the air.  "There is pitch black smoke blowing over the town."  The train was travelling between Mossend in Ayrshire and Riccarton near Kilmarnock when the incident happened.  Network Rail said disruption was likely to go on for much of the day.  Local train services between Barrhead in East Renfrewshire and Kilmarnock were stopped and alternative arrangements put in place for travellers.  Buses were replacing trains between Barrhead and Kilmarnock.  The Glasgow to Carlisle service was running via Barassie.  A spokesman for BP rail cars said: "The wagons were carrying heating oil and diesel from the Grangemouth refinery to a Scottish Fuels terminal in Kilmarnock." Scottish Power said up to 100 homes in the Kilmaurs area of Ayrshire had lost electricity as a result of the crash. A spokesman confirmed that some power lines had been damaged. He said: "Two 11KV lines appear to have been affected. As a precaution we have turned off two circuits. "They are not high transmission lines and fewer than 100 homes have been affected in the Kilmaurs area. "Our staff have been on site since 0800 GMT and they are currently working in conjunction with the fire brigade."

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