Yes it was. All a bit sudden - as we went through the station at speed - maybe 90 - there was a judder and a noise from underneath as if we'd hit something solid. I was in the rear coach of four and we all felt it. The emergency brakes kicked in but it took about a mile to stop.
Then we had to await the Transport Police and Railtrack and a replacement driver. That took well over an hour, we had stopped in a remote location. Eventually we proceeded to Burton on Trent, and coincidentally the Cross Country maintenance site is on this stretch, so when we were all off, the train reversed to the depot and we saw the front end damage. The impact had shattered the headlamp unit and cracked the fibreglass moulding which covers what would have been buffers in the past. All around this damage was blood - a big mess.
So eveything was running an hour or more late - but I arrived home at 7.00!
I got through MogMag and MotorSport.............
