Purley station rail crash
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| Details | |
|---|---|
| Date and time: | 4 March 1989 |
| Location: | Purley |
| Rail line: | Brighton Main Line (Network SouthEast) |
| Cause: | Signal passed at danger |
| Statistics | |
| Trains: | 2 |
| Passengers: | |
| Deaths: | 6 |
| Injuries: | 94 |
| List of UK rail accidents by year | |
The Purley station rail crash was a train accident on the British railway system that occurred just to the north of Purley railway station in the London Borough of Croydon on Saturday 4 March 1989, leaving six dead and 94 injured.
The 12:50 from Horsham had stopped at the station and then crossed to the fast line, when the 12:17 from Littlehampton ran through a red signal (SPAD) into the back of it. Five coaches left the track and came off the embankment, so that they had to be recovered by road.
Contents |
[edit] Cause
The cause was one which had led to many collisions over the last 150 years; the driver missed a warning signal in advance so that there was insufficient time to stop when he saw the red signal. He would have received an AWS warning, but the audible warning was the same for double yellow, yellow and red signals. As a result, on these busy lines, drivers are constantly cancelling AWS warnings and it becomes routine habit. The problem had been recognised for many years but no technical solution had been found at reasonable cost.
A notable feature of the accident was that the driver was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 12 months in prison plus 6 months suspended, despite the known deficiency of the AWS system. He had an exemplary record over 22 years, but became the only driver in UK railway history to be imprisoned for such an error. Media pressure was intense following the previous year's accident at Clapham Junction.
[edit] Preventing recurrence
This accident illustrates the limitations of the British Rail Automatic Warning System which can be overridden by the driver as a matter of habit. The new Train Protection Warning System or TPWS always applies the brakes at a red signal and cannot be overridden by the driver.
The TPWS system is in turn not completely foolproof, since it only provides protection up to a certain speed. However, it would very probably have prevented this accident.
[edit] References
Hall, Stanley (1991). Danger on the Line. Ian Allan.
Vaughan, Adrian (2000). Tracks to Disaster. Ian Allan.
Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith, Caterham and Tattenham Corner. Middleton Press, 1994. ISBN 1-873793-251 (includes photograph of a coach being lifted by crane).
[edit] External links
| Rail accidents in the United Kingdom | Rail accidents in London |
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Barnes | Bexley | Cannon Street | Clapham Junction | Dagenham East | Ealing | Eltham Well Hall | Forest Gate | Harrow and Wealdstone | Hither Green | Holborn | Ladbroke Grove | Lewisham | Moorgate | Purley | Southall | South Croydon | Spa Road |
