PASSENGERS were lucky to escape unscathed after mindless vandals put a 20ft piece of rail on the train tracks at Malvern.

The reckless incident resulted in a train hitting the rail but police said fortunately it was not derailed and the eight passengers were unharmed.

Police spokesman Brian Price described the vandalism as “incredibly dangerous”.

He said. “The train hit the rail and luckily it was not derailed, although it did suffer some damage. It’s incredibly dangerous to place obstructions on the track because there is a strong possibility of derailing the train and causing severe injury or death.”

The 20-foot metal rail, which was being stored alongside the railway line, was hit at 3.41pm on Wednesday by a First Great Western service to London Paddington, which had just left Great Malvern station.

The rail had been placed across the track close to Sling Lane, about half-a-mile from the station. Yesterday, British Transport Police were conducting door-to-door inquiries to track down the culprits.

The vandalism threw the rail network into chaos for several hours.

More than 40 passengers were trapped on three trains.

Thirty-three passengers aboard the 3.14pm service from Hereford to London Paddington and passengers on the 3.30pm service from Great Malvern to Whitlocks End were also trapped following the incident, Services to and from Birmingham, Oxford and London, and the West Country were cancelled or delayed. Rail staff organised replacement coach services.

Anyone with information can call police on 0800 405040 quoting reference 399/22/08.