The Selby rail crash was a high-speed train accident that occurred at Great Heck near Selby, North Yorkshire, England, on the morning of 28 February 2001. An InterCity 225 passenger train operated by Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) travelling from Newcastle to London collided with a Land Rover Defender which had crashed down a motorway embankment onto the railway line. It was consequently derailed into the path of an oncoming freight train at an estimated closing speed of 142 mph (229 km/h). Ten people died including the drivers of both trains, and 82 were seriously injured. It remains the worst rail disaster of the 21st century in the United Kingdom. The crash occurred at approximately 06:13 (GMT), when a Land Rover Defender, driven by Gary Neil Hart and towing a loaded trailer (carrying a Renault Savanna estate car), left the carriageway of the westbound M62 motorway just before a bridge over the East Coast Main Line.The vehicle ran 30 yards (27 m) down an embankment and onto the southbound railway track. Hart tried to reverse it off the track but could not. He exited the vehicle and, while he was using a mobile telephone to contact emergency services, the Land Rover was hit by a southbound Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) InterCity 225 heading from Newcastle to London King's Cross. The InterCity 225 was propelled by a Class 91 locomotive (No.91023) and led by Driving Van Trailer (DVT) No.82221.After striking the Land Rover, the leading bogie of the DVT derailed but the train stayed upright. Points to nearby sidings then deflected it into the path of an oncoming Freightliner freight train carrying coal and travelling from Immingham port to Ferrybridge power station, hauled by a Class 66 locomotive (No.66521). The freight train hit the wreckage approximately 2,106 feet (642 m) from the passenger train's impact with the Land Rover, resulting in the near destruction of the lightweight DVT and moderate to severe damage to all nine of the InterCity 225's Mark 4 coaches, which mostly overturned and came to rest down an embankment to the east side of the track, in a field adjacent to the railway line just south of overbridge ECM 2/7. The trailing locomotive was derailed, remained upright, and suffered minor damage. The Class 66 freight locomotive lost its bogies after impact, with debris of the DVT jammed underneath rupturing its fuel tank. It overturned onto its left side coming to rest in the garden of a residence adjacent to the line to the north of the bridge. The locomotive sustained major damage to its cab area and right side. The first nine wagons following it were derailed and damaged to varying extents. Immediately before the impact of the two trains, the speed of the InterCity 225 was estimated as 88 mph (142 km/h) and that of the freight train as 54 mph (87 km/h). With an estimated closing speed of 142 mph (229 km/h), the collision between the trains was the highest-speed railway incident that had occurred in the UK since the 1999 Ladbroke Grove crash. Locomotive No. 66526 has since been named "Driver Steve Dunn (George)", in memory of the Freightliner driver killed in the accident. It carries a plaque commemorating the accident: "In remembrance of a dedicated engineman Driver Steve (George) Dunn was tragically killed in the accident at Great Heck on 28th February 2001".[17] Dunn's son James, who was nine at the time of the crash, later became a train driver.[18] Barry Needham, another Freightliner employee killed in the crash, was also commemorated by the naming of 56115 after him the nameplates and plaques were transferred later to 60087 the plates later being transferred to 60091. The locomotives mentioned above also carried an explanatory plaque. John Weddle, the GNER driver killed in the accident, was honoured by way of a new driver-training school in his home city of Newcastle, which was named after him. In a ceremony attended by members of his family, his 16-year-old daughter Stephanie unveiled a plaque dedicating the school to his memory.[20] Coincidentally, No. 91023 was also involved in the Hatfield rail crash four months earlier.[21] The locomotive escaped with only slight damage on both occasions. Following technical upgrade of the Class 91 fleet, which led to all locomotives having 100 added to the number (91001 became 91101, etc.), 91023 was renumbered 91132, not 91123. Its was withdrawn in 2022 and subsequently scrapped.
