Wembley Central rail crash
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wembley Central rail crash | |
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| Details | |
| Date | 11 October 1984 18:04 |
| Location | Wembley, Greater London |
| Country | England |
| Line | West Coast Main Line |
| Operator | British Rail |
| Owner | British Rail |
| Cause | Signal passed at danger |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 2 |
| Deaths | 3 |
| Injured | 18 |
| List of UK rail accidents by year | |
The Wembley Central rail crash was a fatal railway accident that occurred on 11 October 1984 just outside Wembley Central railway station, Greater London.
The 17:54 passenger train from London Euston to Bletchley, formed of two Class 310 electric multiple units, collided with a Freightliner train which was leaving Willesden yard. The first two coaches of the passenger train overturned onto their sides and three passengers were killed; 17 passengers and the driver were injured.
The passenger train had passed a signal at 'danger' after the driver had suffered a transient episode of amnesia, brought about by a rare medical condition. As a result, he had cancelled the AWS warnings at the signals approaching Wembley without realising.
Shortly after 18:00 a Freightliner train, 4D62, the 16:00 from Willesden to Holyhead consisting of locomotives 86006 and 85035 hauling 20 loaded Freightliner wagons was signalled from a goods line on to the Down Slow line just to the south of Wembley Central station. The train was negotiating the crossovers that led from the goods line to the Down Slow line when its eleventh wagon was struck by an eight-car electric multiple-unit passenger train, 2A85, the 17:54 from London Euston to Bletchley, consisting of two 4-car Class 310 electric multiple-units. The resulting impact led to the deflection of the passenger train to its left towards the adjacent Fast lines with the remaining coaches derailed and overturned onto their sides apart from the rearmost coach.[1]
Emergency services were quickly called to the scene and arrived within twelve minutes. The resulting collision caused damage to track, signalling and overhead line equipment with the debris blocking all main lines into and out of Euston. Three passengers died, with a further seventeen passengers, including the driver of the passenger train, taken to a nearby hospital, with two detained. One detained passenger was released on 15 October and the other on 1 November.[1]
Aftermath
The Down Fast line was restored at 18:22 on 12 October and later closed to traffic on 14 October to enable repairs to be completed. The Up Slow line was restored at 18:54 on 13 October and the Down Slow Line was restored on 06:00 on 15 October.[1]
