A HERO railman was fighting for his life last night after he joined passengers trying to stop the train knife attacker.
The unnamed London North Eastern Railway worker was the only victim still in a critical condition last night.
His actions as the crazed knifeman slashed out at anyone he could find were captured on CCTV.
British Transport Police Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Cundy said: “It is clear the actions of the member of rail staff were nothing short of heroic and undoubtedly saved people’s lives.”
Meanwhile, the driver, Iraq war veteran Andrew Johnson was also praised for his cool head in diverting the service to Huntingdon, where help could quickly arrive.
The actions of the former Navy Petty Officer, who reportedly served for 17 years before becoming a train driver in 2018, were also said to have saved further bloodshed.
READ MORE ON THE TRAIN HORROR
Passenger Dean McFarlane, 34, told how he overrode the alarm to stop at a station, rather than in the middle of nowhere
He said: “I spoke to the driver afterwards. He said people were banging on his cab saying passengers were being stabbed.
“Once that emergency alarm is pulled, he only has a few moments to make a split-second decision before an automatic emergency stop. His response was absolutely amazing.”
Other stories of courage emerged as terrified travellers told of 15 minutes of hell while they were trapped in carriages with the suspect.
Another man is understood to have stood in the way of the attacker as he tried to stab a young woman, suffering injuries to his head and throat.
The horror started just after the train left Peterborough at 7.30pm on Saturday, with the service from Doncaster full of families and football fans heading to London.
Passenger Olly Foster said a man dashed through the carriage yelling: “Run, run.”
He told The Sun: “I was confused and thought maybe a fight had broken out. There was then an old guy behind me who had been stabbed in his head and neck.
“We’re communicating while we’re running to the end of the carriage.
“I heard people saying there’s a guy stabbing everyone and anyone in his sight and they might have a gun.
“I put my hand on this chair and it felt wet, I looked down and it’s covered in blood.
“A guy in front had been badly stabbed and was bleeding over chairs.”
Olly ran to the back of the train, with passengers grabbing a bottle of Jack Daniel’s to use in defence.
Others locked themselves in the loo as well as the buffet car, which the attacker tried to storm.
Project manager Andy Gray, 37, said he tried to help a young man stabbed multiple times, and was covered in his blood.
He said: “A young lad there was only 19 or 20 and had been cut and stabbed really badly.
“He had a gash on his arm and had several puncture wounds under his arm.
“He somehow got past me and was panicking walking through saying ‘please somebody help me, I’ve been stabbed’.
“I looked and saw how bad it was. There was a lot of blood coming out and it looked like an artery bleed.
“I took my belt off to create a makeshift tourniquet and sat him down to string his arm up.
“The attacker was just stabbing anybody who he could find.”
Andy’s partner, Dayna Arnold, 48, fell to the floor as crowds surged through the aisle, and revealed she pleaded with the attacker not to kill her.
Site manager Dayna, from Bridlington, East Yorkshire, said: “I was going with the crowd but then I got knocked into some seats.
“I looked back and saw the knifeman running so I slid down to the floor. He came at me with the knife and I begged, ‘Please don’t’.
“Then something shifted in his face and he just carried on. I feel very fortunate to still be alive.
“Then a minute or so later he came back through, looked at me again and said ‘The devil’s not going to win’, and continued on.”
Alistair Day, 58, travelling home to Hertford after watching Nottingham Forest play Manchester United, initially thought it was a Halloween prank, before realising it was a serious incident.
Hiding in the shuttered buffet car with fellow passengers, he said there was “a man at the window with his knife” trying to get in, but they had locked the door.
“Alistair claimed a fellow Forest fan said he was “gonna go confront him”.
He said: “He wasn’t the biggest guy and we tried to stop him.”
He then saw the same man “on the platform afterwards, flat-out, covered in blood”.
Transport Salaried Staffs Association general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust called on LNER and the government to “act swiftly to review security”.
Extra police officers are being deployed to major train terminals across the UK until tomorrow, as well as on the East coast mainline services.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “Passengers will see a high visibility presence of officers at stations and on trains throughout today who are there to reassure the public.”
LNER boss David Horne said it was a “deeply upsetting incident.
He added: “I would also like to recognise the driver, crew and our operational response colleagues for their bravery and quick actions.”
