The Hall Road rail accident occurred at 16:37 on 27 July 1905 at Hall Road station between

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. Historically part of Lancashire, Bootle's ...

and

Formby Formby is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 22,419 at the 2011 Census. Historically in Lancashire, three manors are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under "Fo ...

north of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, operated at the time by the

Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) was a major British railway company before the 1923 Grouping. It was incorporated in 1847 from an amalgamation of several existing railways. It was the third-largest railway system based in northern ...

. The 16:30 Liverpool Exchange to

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

express collided with a local train which had departed Liverpool ten minutes earlier, and which was to be turned round at Hall Road. The empty local train had been shunted into a siding to allow the express to pass; according to the official report, the points failed to close properly and the signalman was unable to clear the signal for the express. He then worked the points back and forth three times and, unable to clear the signal, waved a green flag to the driver. He had left the points set for the siding and the express was diverted into it and struck the rear of the local train, killing 20 people in the front coach of the express after telescoping occurred. Both drivers survived, having jumped clear prior to the impact.

Sources

Disasters in and around the Crosby, Waterloo and Nth Liverpool area

External links

Eyewitness accountsOfficial Report
''Railway Archive'', accessed 28 July 2012 {{1900s railway accidents Railway accidents in 1905 1905 in England Accidents and incidents involving Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway History of Liverpool 1905 disasters in the United Kingdom July 1905 events Train collisions in England Railway accidents and incidents in Merseyside