Train passenger describes feeling 'lucky to be alive' after collision with van kills driver

A rail passenger has told how she feels "lucky to be alive" after her train crashed with a van, killing the delivery driver.

Sophie Cassidy was travelling in the train when it hit a van on a railway line. The van driver died at the scene in Burscough, West Lancashire, just after 15:00 BST on Saturday.

The 26-year-old's daughter was hit by flying glass when the door to the Northern train driver's compartment sheered off its hinges in the crash on the Wigan Wallgate-Southport train.

The mother-of-two told the BBC: "I can't put into words how lucky we are to be alive. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it all."

The marketing boss was on the train with her son and daughter.

Cassidy said she had looked out through the window and saw the van travelling along a road toward the crossing just before the impact, which happened on the corner of Martin Lane and Whitehouse Lane.

She described the train driver, who quickly came out of his carriage to check on all the passengers, as "an absolute hero".

"The driver came out and spoke to us all and made sure we were all OK," she added.