| 1848 Shrivenham rail collision | |
|---|---|
 Site of the collision | |
| Details | |
| Date | May 10, 1848 Around 3:17 p.m. |
| Location | Shrivenham, England |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Line | Great Western Main Line |
| Operator | Great Western Railway |
| Incident type | Collision |
| Cause | Human error |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 2 |
| Passengers | 200 |
| Deaths | 8 |
| Injured | 13+ |
| List of rail accidents (before 1880) | |
The 1848 Shrivenham rail collision was a rail accident that occurred in England on May 10, 1848, resulting in at least six deaths and 13 injuries.
On May 10, 1848, at around 3:17 p.m., George Pargetter (the station signalman), left his post with the signal reading that the tracks were clear. When he left his post, he failed to inform the other staff members that a train from Exeter was running late. A merchandise train was already occupying the line as it was being unloaded at the station. [1]
The merchandise train was parked between a turntable and a train shed. A portion of the train was still on the main line as the Exeter express made its approach. [2]
The express from Exeter was running 23 minutes late because it had to pick up an additional two-passenger coaches at Bristol. Engineer "Bob" Roscoe was instructed not to make up the lost time and proceeded to the station at 55 mph (88 kph). [1] [2] [3]
As the Exeter express approached, it was too late. Roscoe first saw the obstacle on the track with only 150 yards to spare. The passenger train began to sideswipe the goods train, shattering a horsebox and sending debris flying. [3] [4]
Behind the horsebox was a cattle car which struck the luggage car, got jammed between the platform, and then proceeded to crush the following passenger cars containing around 30 passengers. [3] Also injured in the collision was one of the station porters who had been struck by flying debris. [1]
When the scene finally settled, the dead and injured were carried from the train cars and moved to a tavern to recover. Four passengers died on the scene, and four more died in the following days, with the last one dying eight days after the impact. [1]
Following the disaster, a trial was held to determine blame for the accident. A jury would not put the blame on George Pargetter, despite his failure to inform the other staff of the delayed train. Instead, the other two on-duty station porters were charged and found guilty of manslaughter. [3]
On January 15, 1936, the Shrivenham railway station was the site of another accident, again involving a passenger express crashing into a goods train. Again, the cause would be error caused by the signalman. 2 people would die in the collision and a further 28 would be injured. [5] [6]
The Glenbrook rail accident occurred on 2 December 1999 at 8:22 am on a curve east of Glenbrook railway station on the CityRail network between Glenbrook and Lapstone, in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. Seven passengers were killed and 51 passengers were taken to hospital with injuries when a CityRail electric interurban train collided with the rear wagon of the long-haul Perth-to-Sydney Indian Pacific.
Kings Langley railway station is almost under the M25 motorway near Junction 20. It serves the village of Kings Langley, and the nearby villages of Abbots Langley and Hunton Bridge. The station is 21 miles (34 km) north west of London Euston on the West Coast Main Line. The station and all services calling at the station are operated by London Northwestern Railway.
Two rail accidents have occurred near Castlecary, Scotland. One of these was in 1937 and one in 1968. Both events involved rear-end collisions, and caused the deaths of 35 and 2 people respectively.
There was a rail crash near Welwyn Garden City railway station in Hertfordshire, England, in 1935 which killed fourteen people, and another in 1957 with one fatality.
The Cowden rail crash occurred on 15 October 1994, near Cowden Station in Kent (UK), when two trains collided head-on, killing five and injuring thirteen, after one of them had passed a signal at danger and entered a single-line section. The cause was driver error, possibly involving a guard who was in the cabin against regulations.
The Barnes rail crash, in which 13 people were killed and 41 were injured, occurred at Barnes railway station late in the evening of Friday 2 December 1955.
The Norton Fitzwarren rail crash occurred on 11 November 1890, at Norton Fitzwarren station on the Great Western Railway, approximately two miles south-west of Taunton in Somerset. A special boat train carrying passengers from Plymouth to Paddington collided with a goods train that was being shunted on the main line. Ten passengers were killed, and eleven people were seriously injured. Another significant accident occurred at Norton Fitzwarren in 1940.
Shrivenham railway station was a station on the Great Western Main Line serving the village of Shrivenham in what was then part of Berkshire.
Great Western Railway accidents include several notable incidents that influenced rail safety in the United Kingdom.