This lists significant accidents involving railway rolling stock, including crashes, fires and incidents of crew being overcome by locomotive emissions. Other railway-related incidents such as the

King's Cross fire The King's Cross fire was a 1987 fire in a London Underground station with 31 fatalities, after a fire under a wooden escalator suddenly spread into the underground ticket hall in a flashover. The fire began at approximately 19:30 on 18 Novembe ...

of 1987 or the

7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists in London that targeted commuters travelling on the city's public transport system during the mo ...

are not included.

Worst accidents

The worst accident was the

Quintinshill rail disaster The Quintinshill rail disaster was a multi-train rail crash which occurred on 22 May 1915 outside the Quintinshill signal box near Gretna Green in Dumfriesshire, Scotland, United Kingdom. It resulted in the deaths of over 200 people, and remain ...

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 ...

in 1915 with 226 dead and 246 injured. Second worst, and the worst in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, was the 1952

Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash The Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash was a three-train collision at Harrow and Wealdstone station in Wealdstone, Middlesex (now Greater London) during the morning rush hour of 8 October 1952. The crash resulted in 112 deaths and 340 injuries, 88 ...

, which killed 112 people and injured 340. The death toll from the 1957

Lewisham rail crash On the evening of 4 December 1957, two trains crashed in dense fog on the South Eastern Main Line near Lewisham in south-east London, causing the deaths of 90 people and injuring 173. An electric train to had stopped at a signal under the bri ...

was 90; for the 1889

Armagh rail disaster The Armagh rail disaster happened on 12 June 1889 near Armagh, County Armagh, in Ireland, when a crowded Sunday school excursion train had to negotiate a steep incline; the steam locomotive was unable to complete the climb and the train stalled ...

(the worst in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

) it was 80; and for the 1879

Tay Bridge disaster The Tay Bridge disaster occurred during a violent storm on Sunday 28 December 1879, when the first Tay Rail Bridge collapsed as a North British Railway (NBR) passenger train on the Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line from Burntisland bound for its fina ...

it was 75. The worst rail accident in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

was the 1868

Abergele rail disaster The Abergele rail disaster, which took place near Abergele, North Wales, in August 1868, was the worst railway disaster in Great Britain up till then. The Irish Mail train was on its way from London to Holyhead, when a complicated shunting ope ...

, with 33 dead. The accident on the

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

with the highest loss of life was the

Moorgate tube crash The Moorgate tube crash occurred on 28 February 1975 at 8:46 am on the London Underground's Northern City Line; 43 people died and 74 were injured after a train failed to stop at the line's southern terminus, Moorgate station, and crashe ...

which occurred on the

Northern City Line The Northern City Line is a commuter railway line in England, which runs from Moorgate station to Finsbury Park in London with services running beyond. It is part of the Great Northern Route services, and operates as the south-eastern branc ...

in 1975 (at the time it was part of the London Underground Network).

Mainline rail

1830–1922: Pre-grouping

Before 1830 the

Philadelphia (UK) boiler explosion 1815 The 1815 Philadelphia train accident occurred on 31 July 1815, in Philadelphia, County Durham, England, when an early experimental railway locomotive, Brunton's ''Mechanical Traveller'', suffered a boiler explosion. This engine, also known as ...

, a

boiler explosion A boiler explosion is a catastrophic failure of a boiler. There are two types of boiler explosions. One type is a failure of the pressure parts of the steam and water sides. There can be many different causes, such as failure of the safety valve ...

of "Brunton's Mechanical Traveller" on a

plateway A plateway is an early kind of railway, tramway or wagonway, where the rails are made from cast iron. They were mainly used for about 50 years up to 1830, though some continued later. Plateways consisted of "L"-shaped rails, where the flange o ...

had killed 16 people, mainly sightseers.

1923–1947: The Big Four (railway companies)

1948–1994: British Railways/Rail

1995 onwards: Post-privatisation

London Underground

Despite its age and high usage, train related accidents which have involved passenger fatalities are exceptionally rare. The last major fatal collision was the

in 1975. Derailments in the period 2003–2004 did not cause fatalities, although the Chancery Lane derailment in 2003 led to a closure of the Central line whilst urgent safety checks were undertaken.

Tram and light rail

Fatal accidents have occurred involving

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

s; the worst took place in

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

in 1917, when a tram ran away down a hill and overturned, killing 11 people and injuring 60. In 2016, a tram derailed on a sharp bend and overturned in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, killing seven people and injuring 50.

Gallery

File:Sonning cutting.jpg, Sonning Cutting, close to the scene of the accident, 24 December 1841. Workmen appear to be repairing bank-slips on the southern side of the cutting at left. Print by JC Bourne published in 1846. Image:Dee bridge disaster.jpg, The Dee bridge after its collapse, 24 May 1847 Image:Staplehurst rail crash.jpg, Staplehurst rail crash, 9 June 1865 Image:Shipton1.jpg, Shipton-on-Cherwell Disaster, 24 December 1874 Image:Tay bridge down.JPG, Fallen Tay Bridge from the north, 28 December 1879 File:Inverythan Bridge Collapse.png, Inverythan crash, 27 November 1882 Image:Esholt Junction rail crash - 1892.jpg,

Esholt Junction rail crash The Esholt Junction rail crash occurred on Thursday 9 June 1892, at the point at which the Otley and Ilkley Joint Railway from Ilkley divides, one branch in the direction of Leeds and the other Bradford, a short distance after Guiseley railway ...

, 9 June 1892 Image:Lawrence Hill Station Bristol 2000.jpg, Royal Mail train crashes into the back of a loaded coal train at Lawrence Hill station, 1 November 2000 Image:VirginPendolinoDerailment.jpg, Grayrigg derailment, 23 February 2007

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Rail Accident Investigation Branch – Investigation Reports

Health & Safety; Office of Rail and Road

Railways Archive

The Railways Archive

BBC News – Chronology of British Rail Crashes

* {{cite book , author=A Signalman , year=1874 , title= A voice from the signal-box: or, railway accidents and their causes , place=London , publisher= Longmans, Green, & Co. Lists of railway accidents and incidents in the United Kingdom