Train driver ‘was on WhatsApp’ seconds before crashing into station platform

Police said it was ‘sheer luck’ no one was seriously hurt in the incident (Picture: ITV / RAIB / Liverpool Echo)

A train driver was on his phone less than 30 seconds before he crashed into a busy station while travelling at nearly three times the speed limit.

Phillip Hollis, 56, sent a WhatsApp message less than 30 seconds before the passenger train he was driving derailed at Kirkby station in Merseyside in March last year, a court heard.

Police said it was only through ‘sheer luck’ that the twelve passengers and guard onboard the Merseyrail service from Liverpool Central only sustained minor injuries.

But the crash was said to have caused more than £400,000 worth of damage.

Hollis approached the station at 40 mph, well over Network Rail’s 15 mph speed limit for the area.

At the last minute he slammed on the emergency brakes but it was too late and the train collided with a buffer stop.

He later told police he was trying to retrieve his bag and a bottle of Lucozade which had fallen off a cupboard in the cab, before sitting back down and seeing the buffer at the last minute.

But detectives discovered he sent a WhatsApp message at 6.51.34pm, just 26 seconds before the accident on March 13.

Caption: The Emergency Services at Kirkby Train Station after a train derailed (Pic Andrew Teebay). Credit: Liverpool Echo Photographer: Andrew Teebay Provider: Liverpool Echo Source: Liverpool Echo

The crash caused more than £400,000 worth of damage (Picture: RAIB)

Hollis pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of passengers (Picture: ITV News)

Hollis, of Walton, Liverpool, was dismissed by Merseyrail in September 2021 after admitting his phone should have been turned off in the cab.

He pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of passengers at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday and is due to be sentenced at a later date.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve May, of British Transport Police, said: ‘This was a complex investigation but we could be confident from our analysis that Hollis was using his phone in the seconds before crashing the train into Kirby station at high speed.

‘I have no doubt this will have caused him to become distracted while driving, endangering the safety of the passengers and staff on board.

‘It was only through sheer luck that they weren’t seriously injured or worse, killed, as a result of this incredibly dangerous incident.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

from News – Metro https://ift.tt/hKufDiQ