Train driver whose quick thinking saved lives is Iraq War veteran

LNER worker praised for making emergency stop at Huntingdon station moments after knife rampage began

The train driver whose quick actions helped save the lives of passengers in Saturday night’s knife attack is a Royal Navy and Iraq War veteran, The Telegraph can reveal.

Andrew Johnson, from Peterborough, diverted the London-bound train to Huntingdon station within minutes of being alerted to the mass stabbing, allowing armed police to respond.

Mr Johnson, who has been working as a train driver since 2018, is understood to have served in the Royal Navy for 17 years and was deployed to Iraq in 2003 during the second Gulf War.

He is understood to have ended his career as a Chief Petty Officer and having worked as a weapons engineer.

During the Iraq War, Mr Johnson is believed to have served aboard a ship tasked with clearing mines in the Tigris river.

Despite having left the Navy and becoming a train driver, Mr Johnson still regularly supports his former servicemen and was fundraising for the Royal British Legion in his local Waitrose just days before Saturday’s attack.

The 6.25pm LNER service from Doncaster to King’s Cross had departed Peterborough station at 7.30pm when the knife attack began.

Witnesses said people attempting to flee found that they ran out of train as others barricaded themselves in the toilets.

Train seats were soaked with blood during a scene that felt “like something from a film”, one passenger said.

Fellow train staff and members of the public have pointed out that the incident could have been even more serious were it not for the actions of the train’s driver.

A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said Mr Johnson had acted heroically.

“He’s a nice guy. I’ve known him for a while,” he told The Telegraph. “If he did the right thing and stopped the train, that’s a massive thing and he’s probably helped save some people’s lives.

“It’s a pretty bold thing to do. You don’t know what’s going on [in the carriage] if you’re a train driver.”

Mr Johnson is “shaken up” but receiving support, Nigel Roebuck, the North East organiser for rail union Aslef, said on Sunday evening.

“He’s good... he was clearly shaken up, you know,” Mr Roebuck told Sky News. “And obviously we didn’t kind of get too into detail about things.

“We just basically said you know where we are if you need us, the lines are open for us. And I think LNER have probably done the same with him.

“So he’s getting a great level of support, and that’s good, all we can do is make sure that he’s looked after.”

The Class 800 Azuma LNER service was scheduled to travel through Huntingdon at 125mph on a fast track that does not have access to a platform.

Olly Foster, who was on board at the time, said the first thing he knew of the attack was a passenger who ran past shouting: “Run, run, run... there’s a guy stabbing literally everyone and everything.”

Within minutes, LNER staff had declared an emergency, alerting passengers to the jeopardy through the train’s tannoy system.

The driver, crew and signallers diverted the train from its inner rail track to Huntingdon station’s platform-side rail so that emergency services could rapidly board.

It stopped in Huntingdon just 14 minutes after departing Peterborough, where armed police officers, paramedics and an air ambulance were ready to respond.

A taxi driver waiting at the station said the attacker, who was carrying a large kitchen knife, shouted “kill me, kill me” as he was tasered and wrestled to the ground by police.

Viorel Turturica, 42, told The Daily Mail: “A man dressed in black holding a huge kitchen knife in his hand runs past my car at 7.47pm. The police arrived seconds later and I could hear him shouting ‘kill me, kill me, kill me’ to them.

“They then Taser him, and as soon as he is down they say to him drop your weapon’,” he added.

Two British men were detained and are being held by police on suspicion of attempted murder. In total, 11 people were taken to hospital for their injuries and two of them remain in a life-threatening condition.

Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, praised the “exceptional bravery of staff and passengers on the train”.

On Sunday, the RMT rail union also hailed the train’s staff for their role during the “horrific mass stabbing incident”.

Eddie Dempsey, the union’s general secretary, said: “I want to commend the professionalism, bravery and steadfastness of all the railway workers involved from the train crew to the driver and our members in operations, who quickly assisted in diverting the King’s Cross bound train into Huntingdon station, allowing the police and emergency services to take swift action.”

Mr Dempsey added: “I will be seeking urgent meetings with government, rail employers and police to ensure that we have the strongest possible support, resources and robust procedures in place to protect our members and the travelling public.”

Agreed....but you try getting any uniformed officers out of Avon and Somerset HQ in Portishead between 4pm Friday and 8am  Monday.......