A “heroic” rail worker who tried to stop a knife attacker as he carried out a mass stabbing on a high-speed train remains in a life-threatening condition.

A 32-year-old man who was arrested after the 6.25pm Doncaster to London King’s Cross LNER service on Saturday was stopped at Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, is being treated as the only suspect, police said.

The man who is from Peterborough, where he boarded the train, is being held in custody on suspicion of attempted murder, while another man, 35, who was also arrested has been released with no further action.

Train stabbing latest: Two victims still fighting for lives

A knife was recovered at the scene after armed police were deployed to the train and made the arrests within eight minutes of the 999 call.

In total, 11 people were treated in hospital – nine were initially reported as having life-threatening injuries.

Five casualties have now been discharged and one – a member of LNER rail staff who tried to stop the attacker – remains in a life-threatening condition, British Transport Police (BTP) said in a statement on Sunday evening.

BTP Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Cundy said: “This was a horrific attack that has had a wide impact.

“My thoughts and those of everyone in British Transport Police are with those injured and their families – especially the brave member of rail staff whose family are being supported by specialist officers.

“Having viewed the CCTV from the train, the actions of the member of rail staff were nothing short of heroic and undoubtedly saved people’s lives.”

The train driver hailed as “courageous” for his actions during the stabbings has been named as Andrew Johnson.

“The driver did everything he was trained to do, at the right time and in the right way,” said Nigel Roebuck, full-time organiser in the north-east of England for the train drivers’ union Aslef.

“He brought the train into a station where passengers could disembark safely and where police, fire and rescue, and ambulance crew could get on to the train and attend to the victims and, we believe, catch the culprit.

“He showed real courage, real dedication, and real determination in the most difficult of circumstances.”

Police earlier said the two men arrested included a 32-year-old male, a black British national, and a 35-year-old man, a British national of Caribbean descent. Both were born in the UK.

In an update, they said the 35-year-old, who is from London, was not involved.

A witness told Sky News that police fired a Taser at a man with a large knife, after he went on a bloody rampage on the high-speed train.

In a statement, the King and Queen said they were “truly appalled and shocked to hear of the dreadful knife attack,” and offered their “deepest sympathy and thoughts” to those affected.

Police examine ‘motivations’ for attack

Counter-terrorism police were initially supporting the investigation.

But BTP Superintendent John Loveless said there was “nothing to suggest that this is a terrorist incident”, adding that the investigation would continue to examine the “motivations” which led to the attack.

BTP Dep Chief Con Cundy said: “Our investigation is moving at pace and we are confident we are not looking for anyone else in connection to the incident.

“As would be expected, specialist detectives are looking into the background of the suspect we have in custody and the events that led up to the attack.”

Witnesses told Sky News the stabbings started a few minutes after the train left Peterborough and passengers sounded the emergency alarm.

People described how some passengers were trampling over each other and hiding in the toilets to escape the attacker.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it was an “appalling incident” and was “deeply concerning”.

“My thoughts are with all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services for their response,” he wrote on X.

‘Extraordinary bravery’

The main opposition leaders, Kemi Badenoch and Ed Davey, have also reacted.

The Tory leader initially said she was “deeply disturbed” by events. Later, she posted an update online suggesting “there’s clearly something going wrong in our society right now”.

The Lib Dem leader took a different approach in his statement, focusing on the “very best of Britain” and the “extraordinary bravery” of those at the scene.

‘Shocked and frightened’ passengers

Defence Secretary John Healey spoke to Sky News on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips and said he took the same train route just hours before the attack.

“It’s the service I use every week to get home to Rotherham, so I can’t begin to imagine how shocked and frightened those passengers were.”

Asked by Phillips if the attack has changed the UK’s terror threat level, he said no and that it remains “substantial” – meaning an attack is considered “likely”.

Read more:
‘They’ve got a knife’: Eyewitness recalls attack
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Watch: Moment armed police arrive at train stabbing

‘Like a horror film’

Mayor of Huntingdon, councillor Audrey McAdam, told Sky News she was “very emotional” after hearing about the stabbing and said it must have been like a “horror film” for the passengers.

“I’m still in shock… I’m very emotional, and as soon as I found out, I thought, ‘oh no’.

“I’m worried about the people actually in hospital at this moment… it’s something I never thought would ever happen around Huntingdon… it’s something so dreadful.

“But to live in that moment… it’s a horror film… complete horror. I just cannot imagine what the people must have [been] feeling… When you’re stuck on a train, what can you do? A moving train.”

An ‘incredible’ response from emergency services

Huntingdon MP Ben Obese-Jecty spoke to Sky News at the scene on Saturday night. He said: “When I first arrived here, I’ve simply never seen as big a response to an emergency incident as there was in terms of police, fire and ambulance.”

On Sunday morning, Mr Obese-Jecty spoke again about the “rapid, incredible response” and praised the “brave officers who came to try and neutralise that threat”.

Extra police are reportedly going to be deployed across the rail network for at least the next few days.

Government sources have told the PA news agency that there will be a “surge” in the police presence, lasting until Tuesday at least.

Officers are likely to focus on major terminals such as London, Birmingham, York, Leeds and Manchester, as well as at Huntingdon.

National Rail said some train routes to and from London King’s Cross on LNER, Great Northern and Thameslink services faced disruption on Sunday.

British Transport Police held an emergency exercise for press officers in March, which ironically involved a stabbing on a train travelling south near Huntingdon.

In the training drill, the train stopped immediately between stations when a passenger pulled the emergency cord.

It took police 25 minutes to reach the train and casualties, far longer than the eight minutes in which Cambridgeshire firearms officers reached the scene at Huntingdon station.

Follow latest: ‘Nothing to suggest’ terror attack, police say

Chris Webb, a crisis communications expert who helped run the exercise, said: “People think if you pull the emergency cord on a train it stops immediately, but that’s not what happens these days.

“As soon as the driver knows there is a problem, he or she radios the line operator HQ and they discuss where to stop.

“The decision last night was to keep going to Huntingdon station, where it was much easier for armed police to get on.”

He added: “It must have been awful for passengers when the train kept going for another ten minutes or so.

“It’s always a balance. It might have prolonged the attack, but stopping in the middle of nowhere can mean the attack stops but it’s much more difficult for the emergency services to get there.”

Mr Webb, former head of news at Scotland Yard, said such exercises are held regularly by train operators.

A similar drill was carried out on the London Underground weeks before the 7/7 bombings in 2005.

“There are always lessons to learn but you cannot guard against everything.”

In the training exercise in March the suspect was a white man with mental health issues. He was shot dead by police.

Read more:
What we know so far about the Huntingdon train stabbings
Eyewitness recalls horror attack on high-speed train

What happened in the Huntingdon attack?

Police triggered the Plato code to all emergency services in their initial response to the Huntingdon train stabbing, but that did not label it a terrorist attack.

Plato is called for a major incident where it’s thought a suspect is on the loose and has already, or is liable to, cause serious injury.

Plato does not denote a terror attack, though it is often used in terrorist incidents.

In a Plato response paramedics, fire fighters and other first responders are sent to a safe rendezvous point while armed police go in and deal with the suspect.

Plato depicts a situation where unarmed responders are vulnerable and are kept back until it is safe to approach casualties.

There are exceptions and it’s understood the East of England Ambulance Service has a special Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) which was allowed to accompany armed police onto the platform where the two suspects were arrested last night.

Once other first responders were allowed in, Plato was called off – an important part of the operation.

Plato was called during the initial response to the Manchester Arena bomb attack in 2017, but the fire service was not told it had been called off for two hours and that meant its officers did not go in to help with the rescue.

A student has told how she thought she “was going to die” during a mass stabbing on board a high-speed train.

Amira Ostalski was travelling to London for a Saturday night out with her friend Vanessa on board the “very busy” 6.25pm Doncaster to King’s Cross LNER service.

She told Sky News correspondent Dan Whitehead they were “listening to music, just having a good time”, when “panic and chaos” broke out in her carriage, Coach G, between Peterborough and Huntingdon.

Follow latest: Moment train attack suspect was arrested pictured

“I see five rows ahead of us a guy in a white t-shirt just jumps out of his seat,” she said. “People are screaming, ‘he’s got a knife’…. I’m guessing he stabbed the person right in front of me.”

Ms Ostalski said she came within 2m of the attacker but only caught a glimpse of him adding: “He was just a black bearded guy wearing all black and a hoody.

“I didn’t see the knife he was holding. I’m guessing because it was already in the body or something.”

She said she “started running” and was “trying to calm everyone down” because there was a young boy, around six years old, who hid in the toilets with his mum.

“Everyone’s running. A guy next to me is holding his arm saying he’s been stabbed. He was running. I see people covered in blood,” she said.

“Everyone was shocked, everyone was terrified. People wanted to know what was going on, everyone’s pushing and shoving. Everyone’s getting trampled.”

Ms Ostalski said she heard some people crying on the phone “in tears and in shock, thinking they’re going to be stabbed”.

“It was horrific, it was really horrific because we had no idea where he was and the conductor who tried to stop him, he got stabbed as well.

“We felt that we were not safe because we were trying to get the train to stop but it wasn’t stopping.”

Ms Ostalski said she ran into the buffet car where she picked up a metal tray to protect herself and her friend.

“I was honestly so petrified. I thought in that moment it was the last time I was ever going to be alive. I thought I was going to die,” she said.

Read more:
Police rehearsed train knife attack scenario in March
What we know so far

Ms Ostalski said she saw the attacker again when the train was stopped at Huntingdon station by the door, holding a bottle in his left hand.

“He just looked so calm and I think that was the most terrifying thing,” she said.

Police declared a major incident and armed officers can be seen in video footage sprinting along the platform.

Ms Ostalski said she thought she and the other passengers were safe when the train was evacuated.

But when she reached the car park, she turned around and saw the attacker jump the fence and start coming towards them.

“I have to admit, the police came really quickly and managed to detain him,” she said.

“I saw them running then took the knife and he got tasered and fell right on the spot.”

Two men born in Britain have been arrested over the attack, which police do not believe was motivated by terrorism, but Ms Ostalski said she only saw one of them.

A total of 11 people have been treated in hospital for their injuries, while two people remain in a life-threatening condition.

Ms Ostalski said she finally found safety in a taxi but will remember the ordeal for the rest of her life.

“Honestly, I’m scared to sit on a train,” she added.