Fifty-three people remain in hospital with eight fighting for their lives days after a train crash in Bedford.

More than 100 people have received medical treatment since Friday, when a train smashed into the back of another on the same lines just after 5pm.

Shaun Burton, 60, was killed instantly when the Luton Airport Express he was driving ploughed into the other service. 

Tributes poured in for the ‘dedicated’ civil servant on Sunday and his family is being supported by specialist officers from BTP. 

Police confirmed today that 53 people remain in hospital, though they said numbers are ‘changing frequently’.

The East Midlands Railway (EMR) service is thought to have come to a halt due to a fault with a safety system which warns train drivers if there is a red signal ahead.

The driver of the stopped train from Nottingham had been reporting a fault to staff on the phone when the other slammed into it.

It is thought that the second train may have failed to trigger its automatic warning system, which is normally used if a train passes a yellow or red signal without braking.

Ordinarily, this causes an alarm to sound in the driver’s cab. If that warning is also ignored, the train protection system automatically applies the brakes. It is not known if this malfunction led to the crash.

Investigators begin their work in the aftermath of the train crash near Bedford on Friday evening

Specialist crane equipment has also arrived this morning at the crash site which will be used to lift the two trains off the tracks

Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Cundy said: ‘First and foremost, the thoughts of everyone at BTP are with the driver Shaun Burton’s family and colleagues, and all those injured and affected by the collision on Friday.

‘This is a priority investigation for BTP and our experienced senior investigating officer is working in parallel with the Rail Accident Investigation Branch to establish the full circumstances of how this incident came to happen. 

‘We have recovered personal property from the two trains and will shortly be providing an update on how affected passengers can retrieve their belongings.

‘Friday evening witnessed an awful incident that presented complexities and challenges for all those who responded. I have been humbled by the actions of passengers and staff who were on the trains, and by the professionalism of our officers, the wider emergency services and partners.

‘The recovery operation is now underway, and work continues this week to remove the damaged trains and carriages and allow the railway to reopen.

Police are looking to speak to any passengers on the train and have released a QR code for any witnesses to use to get in contact.

Both services were heading for London before the crash. The first, a 3.50pm service from Nottingham to St Pancras stopped on the track.

Then the 4.40pm Corby train, which had stopped at Bedford station just two minutes prior, crashed into the back of it. 

It was the highest number of casualties of any rail disaster in the UK for 20 years.

Mr Burton’s family said yesterday that they were ‘devastated by his loss’ and said their thoughts were also ‘with those affected by this incident’.  

The much-loved driver joined East Midlands Railway in 2019 and became a Mainline Train Driver in 2024, where he often worked the Corby to London route.

He previously held roles at Dews Coaches and Arriva Bus, before moving into working in railway jobs.

A former colleague paid tribute on social media, calling him a ‘wonderful person’.

Posting on Facebook he added: ‘He had a gift for words – always knowing exactly what to say, offer wisdom or bring comfort when it was needed most.

‘His wit was effortless, his humour unforgettable and his intelligence shone through every time I spoke to him.

‘But beyond his sharp mind and quick smile, he was simply a great man. Kind, generous, and genuine, he will leave a lasting impression on everyone fortunate enough to know him.’

Tributes have poured in for the 60-year-old, who had also been a local parish councillor

Driver Shaun Burton died in the crash between the two trains in Bedford on Friday afternoon

Rail expert Tony Miles, from Modern Railways magazine, said the crash was puzzling ‘because if the track is occupied, it shouldn’t be possible to clear the signals’.

Mr Miles said that while a driver could theoretically decide to cross a red signal if they wanted to, ‘they would normally only do that because they had been given permission by a signal box because there was a fault’.

He added: ‘Obviously it’s a rear-end collision, they were going in the same direction, so the rear one was going faster than the one it caught up with for some reason.

‘So the question must be how that train has got into contact with the train that it was following.

‘It’s either gone past a signal that was telling it should stop, or the signal was faulty, or the driver has made a mistake in some way. Over the years, all those different scenarios have happened.’

The black box was recovered from the wreckage on Sunday morning.

The data recorder will help investigators piece together what happened before the smash.

Specialist crane equipment also arrived at the crash site, just south of the Elstow interchange between the A421 and the A6, which will be used to lift the two trains off the tracks.

One survivor likened the crash impact to ‘a bomb explosion’ and said most people in his carriage were ‘bleeding profusely’ or couldn’t stand.

Passenger Pete Knapp described people ‘crying, screaming’ and said some seemed to have major injuries.

Dr Knapp said: ‘There was a moment of being flung into the chair in front, and then I saw smoke.

‘People were crying, screaming, people were so scared and confused.’

The 40-year-old said he saw people with ‘life-threatening, major injuries, minor injuries’ as well as ‘people with bandages, people who couldn’t see straight’, while others like him were still able to walk.

Brett Byatt, another passenger on board, told the BBC he was among three or four people in his carriage who were not injured, adding: ‘Everyone else had either a serious wound that was bleeding profusely, or a situation where they couldn’t stand, or couldn’t move their neck, or I saw a woman’s snapped leg.’

Mr Byatt, a teacher, who lives in Bedford, said he was feeling ‘angry’ the morning after the collision.

‘I don’t know at whom, who specifically, but it’s more about we’ve got one of the oldest railway networks and signal failures happen a lot, and now I’m just wondering… why wasn’t that signalled to my train and why did that train driver lose his life over this?’ he said.