Major transport incident

Several significant road, rail and air transport routes are located within, or pass through, Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. Whilst major accidents are relatively rare, the emergency services and other responding agencies plan and prepare for major accidents across our transport network.

Road Network
Over 250,000 vehicles pass through Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland every day on the major roads located in our area. These roads include the M1 motorway, which is one of the busiest roads in the area with over 100,000 vehicles per day using it in our area alone.
Other major roads include the M69, A1, A6, A46, A47, A50 and A511.
These roads play a vital part in our local and national economy.
Rail Network
Several busy rail services run from stations across our area including the Midland Main Line, East Midlands Railway and Thameslink Route.
The emergency services regularly engage with the rail service providers and other responding agencies to plan and prepare for any possible emergencies.
Air Transport Network
East Midlands Airport serves around 4 million passengers and approximately 50,000 to 60,000 aircraft movements annually. This includes both commercial and non-commercial flights, such as private jets, cargo planes and training flights. 
The emergency services regularly liaise with the airport authorities to plan, train and exercise for major incidents on the airport site as part of long standing and well-established emergency arrangements.

How you could be affected

A major transport incident could cause:

  • physical harm to drivers, passengers and/or pedestrians
  • psychological trauma of witnessing or being involved in an incident
  • fatalities impacting individuals and communities
  • disruption to services leading to delays and inconvenience

What you should do

Breaking down on a major road can be stressful and safety must come first.

  1. Move to safety – if possible, try to move your vehicle to the hard shoulder or an emergency refuge area and out of the flow of traffic
  2. Turn on hazard warning lights – alert other drivers and, only if it is safe to do so, use a hazard warning triangle placed more than 20 metres away from the rear of your vehicle
  3. Exit safely – if you can, exit the vehicle from the passenger side and stand well away from the road, preferably behind a barrier
  4. Don’t attempt repairs – never attempt to fix your car on a busy road
  5. Call for help – use your mobile phone to call your breakdown provider or the emergency services. If you don't have a mobile phone, walk to an emergency phone on your side of the carriageway (follow the arrows on the posts at the back of the hard shoulder), stay calm and remember that help is on its way

It is also good to have an emergency kit in your car that includes:

  • high-visibility jackets
  • warning triangle
  • first aid kit
  • drinking water
  • blanket and warm coat (in winter months)

In the highly unlikely event of an incident while you're a passenger on a train:

  1. Remain in the carriage – if safe to do so, remain where you are and follow the instructions from the driver or other train staff
  2. Move to safety – if instructed by a member of train staff, move to safety either within another carriage or outside, and away from the tracks. Be aware of other trains on nearby tracks and take care when leaving a carriage as there may be a significant drop to the ground outside where there isn't a platform
  3. Call for help – speak to the crew onboard the train or text the British Transport Police on 61016. In an emergency, use your mobile phone to call 999. If possible, use apps such as Google Maps and What3Words to find the exact incident location before calling the emergency services. If it's not an emergency, you can call the British Transport Police on 0800 405 040

In the unlikely event of an emergency whilst a passenger on an aircraft:

  1. Read the safety information provided by the flight provider
  2. Watch the aircrew safety presentation
  3. Follow instructions provided by the flight crew in the event of an emergency

Further advice and information

One Network – real-time information of traffic disruptions

National Rail – information for National Rail passenger services in England, Scotland and Wales

National Highways - information about road safety

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