Train driver used Whatsapp seconds before it derailed in high speed crash – LancsLive

The driver of a train which crashed at three times the speed limit was using WhatsApp seconds before it derailed. Phillip Hollis tried to argue that he was distracted by dropped bag and bottle of Lucozade but analysis of his phone found it had been used 26 seconds before the crash. Hollis, of Spellow Lane, Liverpool, was driving a Merseyrail service from Liverpool Central to Kirkby on March 13 last year when it derailed after crashing at speed. More: Cuadrilla ordered to permanently end fracking at controversial Lancashire site The Network Rail speed limit for the approach to Kirkby station is 15mph, but the train travelled in at 40mph. Hollis applied the emergency brakes but the train has collided with the buffer stop at the end of the platform. This caused the train to derail, and an estimated £450,000 in damage to the station. After Hollis, 56, pleaded guilty to endangering the safety of passengers at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on 8 February, a detective warned that it was only through “sheer luck” that no-one was killed. There were twelve passengers and a guard on board the service at the time and all avoided major injuries. Hollis told police that his…
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