Heritage train derails at summer festival

Passengers and railway staff were seen next to the locomotive after it derailed

A heritage train has derailed during an annual summer gala and beer festival.

The ex-British Rail Class 50 locomotive was on the back of a six-carriage passenger train when it partially derailed at Castle Corfe station at around 18:30 GMT on Saturday.

Services on the Swanage Railway heritage line were suspended briefly afterwards.

No passengers were injured and no damage was sustained to the carriages of the train, said the railway company.

The ex-British Rail Class 50 locomotive "Indomitable" pictured at Corfe Castle the day before the incident

The incident involving the 115-ton heritage diesel locomotive "Indomitable", built in 1968, happened on the second day of the annual three-day gala which is in its 17th year.

Seven of the nine engines featuring in the event travelled via the mainline railway network.

Organisers say the classic locomotives tell the story of the transition from steam to diesel trains in the 1960s.

The Swanage Railway said it had informed the government's Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB), which is investigating the cause.

Chairman Gavin Johns said the line's planned train services for Sunday had been altered.

“There will be 11 trains operating but they will only be running on the five and a half miles of line between Swanage, Corfe Castle and Norden – not beyond Norden on the four miles of line to the River Frome,” he said.

Mr Johns added that the return of the Jurassic Crompton rail tour from Swanage to Eastleigh and London Waterloo, "via our main line connection near the River Frome", would still take place on Sunday afternoon.