A Bradford Bulls player was recovering today after his train was derailed by a landslide on a remote Cumbrian track.

Craig McDowell, 17, a Bulls Academy player, had been on his way to his home village of Arlecdon to visit his parents for the weekend when the train carrying 38 passengers was derailed on the Carlisle to Settle line and then hit by a freight train.

Nursing a knee injury, the teenager revealed he had missed an earlier train because he was delayed after a coaching session.

He said: "We were on the train and the next thing I knew the train was off the tracks."

"The guard told us to get to the front of the train because he thought there was another train coming in the same direction.

"Then there was a loud bang and this woman flew through the air and everybody else was falling around.

"We were shunted about half a mile into a tunnel and when we stopped, we checked and nobody was hurt. A woman next to me was in hysterics, but most people just had cuts and bruises and were shocked."

Craig banged his head and suffered a blow to the elbow and knee. But apart from shock, he was otherwise unhurt.

"It was only when we got off the train and looked at it that we realised how lucky we had been.

"The back end was all smashed up and was up on one end."

The passengers waited for over an hour before police and firemen got through the appalling weather conditions to mount the rescue operation.

Paramedics checked everyone out on the scene and they were asked to walk to a nearby settlement where a bus was waiting to take them to Carlisle.

Craig was on the 1712 Huddersfield to Carlisle train after staying later at training and missing the train he usually catches.

His parents were due to pick him up at Carlisle and take him to the family home at Arlecdon. But as they waited at the station, they were told the train had been cancelled.

"We knew that wasn't right because we had spoken to Craig on his mobile while he was on the train," said mum Helen. "Then they told us what had happened but that nobody was hurt. We were worried, but we were just pleased he wasn't injured."

Craig is due back at training in Bradford on Wednesday, but he says that might be too soon to get back on a train.

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