The Salisbury rail crash was a high-speed rail accident which occurred at the Salisbury railway station, Wiltshire, England, on 1 July 1906. A boat train from Plymouth to London failed to negotiate a sharp bend at more than twice the speed limit and crashed into another train, killing 28 people. Much speculation remains as to its cause.
The crash occurred around the time that a short cut for the rival Great Western Railway was opening, and it was claimed that the driver of the crashed train was trying to show that his railway was capable of competitive speeds. It was also rumoured that passengers – mostly rich New Yorkers travelling to London from the transatlantic port at Plymouth – had bribed the driver to run the train as fast as possible, but there was no evidence of this and, if anything, the train had lost time earlier. Conversely, it was stated that drivers often ran through Salisbury very fast to "get a run" at the following hill.
LSWR L12 class 4-4-0 No. 415, similar to the crashed engine
The crashed train's engine was a new LSWR L12 class 4-4-0 No. 421 with a higher centre of gravity than the earlier T9 class. The most likely cause of the accident is that the driver did not realise the level of risk he was running, particularly as this was the first time he had taken a non-stopping train through Salisbury. Steam locomotives at this time, and for half a century afterwards, were not fitted with speedometers.
Prior to the crash the boat train had no passenger stops between Plymouth and Waterloo, just a locomotive change at Templecombe. As a result of the accident all trains were required to stop at Salisbury station,[1] and the speed limit on the curve east of Salisbury was reduced to 15 miles per hour (24km/h), still in effect today.
There is a memorial tablet to the 28 dead (including the driver, two firemen and the guard) in Salisbury Cathedral.
The accident was the second in a series of three derailments due to excessive speed at night in a 16-month period; the others were at Grantham in 1906 and Shrewsbury in 1907. All three resulted in deaths, including the footplate crews; the cause in each case was recorded as driver error but there has been much speculation since.
‡ indicates railway accidents and incidents resulting in at least 20 fatalities § indicates the deadliest railway accident in British history 1815–18992000–present
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