Hither Green rail crash
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| Hither Green rail crash | |
|---|---|
| Details | |
| Date | 5 November 1967 |
| Time | 21:16 |
| Location | Hither Green Depot |
| Country | England |
| Rail line | South Eastern Main Line (BR Southern Region) |
| Cause | Broken rail |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 1 |
| Passengers | full train, some standing |
| Deaths | 49 |
| Injuries | 78 |
| List of UK rail accidents by year | |
The Hither Green rail crash was an accident on the British railway system that occurred on 5 November 1967 near Hither Green maintenance depot, between Hither Green and Grove Park railway stations, in south-east London.
A Sunday evening express train from Hastings to London, consisting of twelve coaches (two six-car Class 201 diesel-electric multiple units), 1007 leading and 1017 trailing (1007 being of the short underframe variant and 1017 of the long underframe variant) derailed at approximately 70 mph (113 km/h), shortly before the train crossed the St Mildred's Road railway bridge. 2 coaches struck the bridge girders at track level. Most of the train overturned, two coaches having their sides torn off. The train was well-filled and 49 people died, making it Britain's sixth worst rail disaster. Singer Robin Gibb of The Bee Gees and his wife-to-be Molly were on the train when it crashed they were 'covered in oil, but otherwise unhurt'.(Mail on sunday 22/1/12) As the train approached just prior to the crash the signalman in Hither Green Box thought he could see the wheels glowing white-hot.
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[edit] Cause of derailment
The accident was found to be due to a broken rail. At a rail joint, a fatigue crack through the first bolt hole in the running-on rail had progressively developed and a triangular piece of rail had broken out.
The track in general was heavily trafficked by a dense outer suburban service of multiple unit trains, all of them with nose-suspended traction motors imposing high impact forces on any imperfection in the running surface of the rails. The running-off sleeper at the joint had previously failed and been replaced with a shallower timber replacement, and the replacement had not been well packed. The running-on rail was supported on an undisturbed concrete sleeper, giving a very rigid support, so that successive trains dipped into, and then struck, the running-on rail end, stressing it severely. The cyclical stress promoted growth of the fatigue crack.
The train which actually derailed was fitted with a special suspension to limit sway of the bodies due to tight clearances on tunnels on its route on the Tonbridge–Hastings line, and this caused very high wheel forces at track irregularities; this may have been the reason why this particular train derailed, due to the derailing ramp that was formed as the third coach passed over.
The speed limit had been raised from 75 mph to 90 mph in July 1967, and viewed in retrospect it is clear that resources for basic track maintenance were overwhelmed.
[edit] Recommendations of Inquiry
Inspection techniques and jointing methods were revised, and the existing plans for replacing jointed rail by long-welded rail were given a boost. Concrete sleepers were banned at rail joints on the Southern Region.
[edit] References
- Nock, O.S. (1980). Historic Railway Disasters (2nd ed. ed.). Ian Allan.
- Hall, Stanley (1987). Danger Signals. Ian Allan.
- Hither Green rail crash (BBC News online 'On this day')
[edit] External links
- ITN news footage and interviews
- Newsreel coverage of the crash
- Railways Archive - Derailment at Hither Green (Summary)
- Railways Archive - Derailment at Hither Green (Complete report, 1.54Mb, PDF)
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