Train derails with fuel cargo

The train was travelling from Grangemouth

A freight train carrying a cargo of petrol has derailed near Falkirk.

A section of the line was closed following the accident involving an 18-wagon train, which was travelling from Grangemouth to Cumbria.

Rail company EWS, which operated the train, said the incident did not pose any danger to the public.

An investigation has begun to determine why some wheels on more than one of the carriages slipped from the rail.

EWS spokesman

An investigation has been launched into the cause of the accident in the early hours of Wednesday.

The train, a regular nightly service, derailed just after midnight about a mile east of Falkirk.

It came off the rails while travelling at 30 miles per hour.

A spokesman for EWS said the wagons were designed to withstand such incidents.

He said they sustained only slight damage and there was no leakage of petrol or any risk to the public.

'No threat'

The one driver on board the vessel was not injured.

"There was never any threat of injury at all," said the spokesman.

"An investigation has begun to determine why some wheels on more than one of the carriages slipped from the rail."

A section of railway line was closed following the accident, affecting services between Edinburgh and Dunblane.