On 6 March 1989, two
Class 303 commuter trains crashed on the Springburn branch of the
North Clyde Line
The North Clyde Line (defined by Network Rail as the ''Glasgow North Electric Suburban'' line) is a suburban railway in West Central Scotland. The route is operated by ScotRail Trains. As a result of the incorporation of the Airdrie–Bathgat ...
, just east of
Bellgrove station in the East End of
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
. Driver Mr. Hugh Kennan, aged 62 of Maryhill, and passenger Mr. Robert McCaffrey, aged 58, a retired rail worker from Scotstoun, died in the crash and 53 people were injured.
The accident was of a type known as "
ding-ding, and away
Ding-ding, and away is a slang expression used by the UK media and railway enthusiasts to describe a type of operating incident in the Rail transport in the United Kingdom, British railway industry where the guard of a train standing at a platform ...
". It was caused primarily by a
signal passed at danger
A signal passed at danger (SPAD), known in the United States as a stop signal overrun and in Canada as passing a stop signal, is an event on a railway where a train passes a stop railway signal, signal without authority. In the United States a ...
(SPAD) in conjunction with the
single-lead junction track layout, where two lines converged into one just beyond the platform end and then diverged again – a layout which is simpler to maintain but is vulnerable in the event of a SPAD. This type of junction has been implicated in other accidents, notably to the south-east of Glasgow in the
Newton rail accident just a couple of years later. Both trains were travelling at , so the collision speed was . The force of the impact was so severe that at least one passenger was thrown out of his seat and completely destroyed one of the "A" frame back-to-back seats.
An official report, delivered in May 1990, determined that the -to- train had passed the signal at danger, causing a collision with the Springburn-to-Milngavie service.
References
External links
Official accident report courtesy of the Railways Archive
{{Railway accidents in the United Kingdom, 1900–1999, state=collapsed
1989 in Scotland
Train collisions in Scotland
Railway accidents in 1989
Transport in Glasgow
Disasters in Glasgow
1980s in Glasgow
Railway accidents involving a signal passed at danger
Accidents and incidents involving Regional Railways
March 1989 events in the United Kingdom
Rail accidents caused by a driver's error