Two men arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after mass stabbing on UK train

Two people remained in a life-threatening condition on Sunday after a mass stabbing on a train travelling from Doncaster to London King's Cross, leaving 11 people injured.

Police arrested two men on suspicion of attempted murder within eight minutes of the first 999 call being made on Saturday night. The attack took place on the 6:25pm London Northeastern Railway service, with officers deployed to Huntingdon station in Cambridgeshire after the first emergency report at 7:42pm.

"Following assessment and treatment, four have been discharged," Superintendent John Loveless from British Transport Police told reporters at Huntingdon railway station on Sunday morning.

The two suspects are British nationals, a 32-year-old black British man and a 35-year-old British man of Caribbean descent, both born in the UK. They were being held at separate police stations and questioned on suspicion of attempted murder.

Superintendent Loveless said there was "nothing to suggest that this is a terrorist incident", though the investigation would continue to examine the "motivations" which led to the attack. Counter-terrorism police were initially supporting the investigation.

Witnesses said that police fired a Taser at a man with a large knife after he went on a rampage on the high-speed train. The stabbings started a few minutes after the train left Peterborough, and passengers sounded the emergency alarm. Some passengers were trampling over each other and hiding in the toilets to escape.

Armed police, paramedics, air ambulances and transport police arrived at the scene within minutes.

The King and Queen said in a statement they were "truly appalled and shocked to hear of the dreadful knife attack" and offered their "deepest sympathy and thoughts" to those affected.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called it an "appalling incident" and said it was “deeply concerning.” He thanked the emergency services for their response.

Extra police are being deployed across the rail network for at least the next few days, according to government sources. Officers are likely to focus on major terminals including 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.