The driver was towing a trailer into a neighbouring field and decided to cross the line with the busy service fast approaching
© Jon Fuller-Rowell / Daily MirrorArriva train has crashed into a farmers trailer
A tractor driver cheated death today after trying to travel across tracks moments before a 70mph train smashed into him.The driver was towing a trailer into a neighbouring field and decided to cross the line with the busy service fast approaching.
Detectives from British Transport Police arrested the 27-year-old on suspicion of endangering safety following the smash.
Amazingly, the driver emerged unscathed with hardly any injuries following the midday crash at a remote agricultural crossing in Buttington, Welshpool, in mid-Wales.
Up to 200 passengers were evacuated from the 10.06 Arriva Trains Wales service from Birmingham to Aberystwyth and led across fields to waiting buses, while two people suffered minor injuries.
They were taken to Welshpool Hospital for further treatment.
The train managed to stay upright despite the high-impact collision and remained on the tracks with some damage to its front, at around 11.50am today.
One onlooker said: "The tractor ended up in a hedge and the trailer was catapulted 20 metres down the track.
"The train appears to have hit the trailer rather than the tractor which is probably why the driver is still alive. A spilt second earlier and he'd have been dead."
Bob Gittins, landlord of the nearby Green Dragon Inn, was walking his dog with his wife and saw the aftermath of the drama.
The 60-year-old told the
Mirror: "It happened in the field next to our pub.
"We heard the train coming as normal, but then a big thud and smoke everywhere.
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