1984 Eccles rail crash | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Details | |
Date | 4 December 1984 10:37 |
Location | Eccles, Greater Manchester |
Country | England |
Line | Liverpool to Manchester Line |
Incident type | Collision |
Cause | Driver's error |
Statistics | |
Trains | 2 |
Deaths | 3 |
Injured | 68 |
List of UK rail accidents by year |
The 1984 Eccles rail crash occurred on 4 December 1984 at Eccles, Greater Manchester, when an express passenger train collided at speed with the rear of a freight train of oil tankers. The driver of the express and two passengers were killed, and 68 people were injured. The cause of the accident was determined to be that the driver of the express train had passed a signal at danger. [1]
The passenger train involved was 1E79, the 10:05 service from Liverpool Lime Street to Scarborough, formed of a Class 45 diesel locomotive No. 45147, seven passenger coaches and a parcels van. The freight train was 6E85, the 09:00 service from Stanlow Oil Refinery, Ellesmere Port to Leeds, composed of a Class 47 locomotive No. 47310 and fifteen tanker wagons containing fuel oil. [1]
At around 09:00 on the morning of 4 December, the signalman at Eccles signal box found that, due to the maintenance crew adjusting rail gaps, a track circuit had failed, meaning that the Up signal section (number ES51) could not be cleared. As a result, all trains heading towards Manchester would have to be stopped and the drivers to be told to pass the signal at danger. [1]
Shortly after 10:29, the freight train slowed down and stopped beside the Up section signal. At 10:35, when the driver telephoned the signal box, the signalman instructed him to pass the signal at Danger. Meanwhile, the signal preceding the freight train (number ES50), located just after Eccles station, was kept at the Danger aspect, the signalman anticipating the express train to stop. Following the telephone conversation, the signalman noticed the express train passed by the signal at full speed, with no attempt to apply the brakes. [1]
The freight train was starting to accelerate away when the passenger train, having passed both the Eccles distant signal at caution and home signal at danger, collided heavily with its rear at 10:37. It was estimated that the freight train was travelling at about 10mph, whilst the passenger train's speed was estimated to be between 50 and 60mph. [1]
The force of the collision threw the rearmost tanker to the side, but the next two wagons were thrown into the air, with one falling back onto the passenger locomotive. The wagons were badly damaged and escaping fuel oil was ignited by the hot exhaust gases of the locomotive, setting fire to it and the leading two coaches. Fortunately, the leading coach was empty of passengers or the death toll would probably have been much higher. However, the express driver and one passenger were killed instantly, whilst another passenger succumbed to injuries a month later. A number of people received impact injuries and burns and many were also treated for smoke inhalation. Rescue efforts were assisted by the location of the accident, which was adjacent to the M602 motorway, enabling easy access for emergency services. [1]
The inquiry into the accident was inconclusive. There had been problems with the signalling in the area, and track circuits had been affected by a maintenance gang working on the track nearby, but the inspector was satisfied that the signals which had been passed at danger were working properly and showing the correct aspects. They were, however, not fitted with the AWS warning system to alert the driver to his error. In the absence of any conflicting medical evidence, the inquiry was forced to conclude that the driver had simply allowed his attention to wander and had missed the Eccles signals – it was testified by staff that it was rare for these signals to be at danger. [1]
The report recommended that these signals be fitted with AWS, work which was quickly completed. The home signal was also fitted with a white backplate, in order to make it more visible against the road bridge that stands behind it. [2]
The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest of the "Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It operated from 1 January 1923 until nationalisation on 1 January 1948. At that time, it was divided into the new British Railways' Eastern Region, North Eastern Region, and partially the Scottish Region.
The Train Protection & Warning System (TPWS) is a train protection system used throughout the British passenger main-line railway network, and in Victoria, Australia.
The Southall rail crash occurred on 19 September 1997, on the Great Western Main Line at Southall, West London. An InterCity 125 high speed passenger train (HST) failed to slow down in response to warning signals and collided with a freight train crossing its path, causing seven deaths and 139 injuries.
The Invergowrie rail accident happened at Invergowrie, Scotland on 22 October 1979. The accident killed 5 people and injured 51 others.
The Charfield railway disaster was a fatal train crash which occurred on 13 October 1928 in the village of Charfield in the English county of Gloucestershire. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Leeds to Bristol night mail train failed to stop at the signals protecting the down refuge siding at Charfield railway station. The weather was misty, but there was not a sufficiently thick fog for the signalman at Charfield to employ fog signalmen. A freight train was in the process of being shunted from the down main line to the siding, and another train of empty goods wagons was passing through the station from the Bristol (up) direction.
The Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash was a three-train collision at Harrow and Wealdstone station in Wealdstone, Middlesex during the morning rush hour of 8 October 1952. The crash resulted in 112 deaths and 340 injuries, 88 of these being detained in hospital. It remains the worst peacetime rail crash in British history and the second deadliest overall after the Quintinshill rail disaster of 1915.
Over the latter years of the 19th and early years of the 20th centuries, Penistone in Yorkshire gained a name as an accident black-spot on Britain's railway network; indeed, it could be said to hold the title of the worst accident black-spot in the country. The main line through the town was the Woodhead route of the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway between Sheffield Victoria and Manchester, London Road. The line was heavily graded with a summit some 400 yards inside the eastern portal of the Woodhead tunnel.
The 1941 Eccles rail crash occurred on 30 December 1941 at the east end of Eccles railway station in Lancashire, England.
The Wrawby Junction rail crash was a train crash which occurred on 9 December 1983, at Wrawby Junction, near Barnetby station, North Lincolnshire, England.
The Coton Hill rail crash was a train crash which occurred on 11 January 1965, at Coton Hill, near Shrewsbury in Shropshire, England.
Great Western Railway accidents include several notable incidents that influenced rail safety in the United Kingdom.
The Knowle and Dorridge rail crash was a fatal rail crash that occurred at Dorridge railway station in the West Midlands, England, on 15 August 1963. Three people died in the crash after a signalman's error routed a small freight train into the path of an express passenger train which slowed but could not stop before colliding with it.
The Marden rail crash occurred on 4 January 1969 near Marden, Kent, United Kingdom, when a passenger train ran into the rear of a parcels train, having passed two signals at danger. Four people were killed and 11 were injured. One person was awarded the British Empire Medal for his part in the aftermath of the collision.
The Slough rail accident happened on 16 June 1900 at Slough railway station on the Great Western Main Line when an express train from London Paddington to Falmouth Docks ran through two sets of signals at danger, and collided with a local train heading for Windsor & Eton Central. Five passengers were killed; 35 were seriously injured, and 90 complained of shock or minor injuries
On the evening of 26 December 1962, cold weather and snow in and around Crewe had caused points to become frozen and trains were being detained at signals. About midway between Winsford and Crewe, the 13:30 Glasgow Central to London Euston Mid-Day Scot, hauled by an English Electric type 4 diesel, D215, with 13 coaches and 500 passengers, was stopped at a signal but the driver found the telephone to Coppenhall Junction, the next signal box ahead, out of order. Seeing the next signal ahead he decided to proceed down towards it and use the telephone there, but too fast. In the darkness he failed to notice the 16:45 express from Liverpool Lime Street to Birmingham New Street, hauled by an electric locomotive with eight coaches with 300 passengers, standing on the line ahead and collided with it at about 20 mph (32 km/h).