Emotions run high as 25th anniversary of Lockington rail disaster is marked

A crowd of about 50 people attended the ceremony at Driffield Memorial Gardens to mark the disaster which happened on July 26, 1986, after a train struck a van and derailed at a level-crossing at Lockington, near Beverley, killing nine people and leaving 59 injured.

The service was held at a special memorial, established last year by a group of victims’ families and survivors of the disaster.

It was led by Bridlington-based historian Richard Jones, 29, who has written a book about the crash and featured recollections from a passenger on the train at the time.

“It was an emotional day,” Mr Jones said.

“For 24 years there was absolutely nothing done and this crash had been forgotten, even by people living nearby.

“Slowly it was being consigned to history but we had a lot of people along yesterday to pay their respects.”

The Bridlington to Hull train was carrying about 120 passengers and travelling at about 50mph when it crashed at 10am on Saturday July 26, 1986, in what is regarded as one of Britain’s worst rail disasters.