Engine falls off Northern Pacer

One passenger was taken to hospital with whiplash injuries when a Northern Pacer (class 142) train derailed last month at Broad Green in Liverpool. The cause of the accident has been revealed as the engine having fallen from the underside of the train.

Incredibly this is not the first time the engine has fallen from one of these trains which have long been the focus of safety concerns: in 1995 another Pacer derailment on the Cumbrian coast line was caused by exactly the same failure.

Despite their unpopularity among passengers, Pacer trains are used on around half the services through Walkden.