The Stratford tube crash occurred on 8 April 1953, on the Central line of 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 ...

. 12 people died and 46 were injured as a result of a

rear-end collision A rear-end collision (often called simply rear-end or in the UK a shunt) occurs when a vehicle crashes into the one in front of it. Common factors contributing to rear-end collisions include driver inattention or distraction, tailgating, panic ...

in a

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

, caused by driver error after a

signal In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...

failure. This was the worst accident involving trains on the

until 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 crashed ...

in 1975. A similar accident at exactly the same location, with less serious consequences, occurred in 1946, before the line was open for public traffic; one railwayman died. A memorial plaque to the accident was unveiled at Stratford Station on 8 April 2016 by

Lyn Brown Lyn Carol Brown (born 13 April 1960) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for West Ham (UK Parliament constituency), West Ham since 2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005. A mem ...

, Member of Parliament for West Ham. Members of the families of those killed in the crash were also in attendance along with Mike Brown,

Commissioner of Transport for London The Commissioner of Transport for London has management responsibility for Transport for London (TfL) and hence for the transport system throughout the City of London and Greater London in the United Kingdom. TfL is controlled by a board whose ...

Collision

A signal (A491) in the tunnel between Stratford and Leyton had been damaged, and this and the preceding signal (A489) were showing a permanent red aspect. Trains were being worked slowly past the failed signals under the "Stop and Proceed" rule, under which trains should proceed with extreme caution, typically less than . However, one train collided with the back of another which was waiting at signal A491, and the first and second coaches of the colliding train were partially telescoped.

Investigation

The Inspecting Officer considered that the extent of the damage suggested the speed was in the region of , and when the driver had passed signal A489, he had simply coasted down the steep down gradient, not expecting to find another train before the next signal. The driver claimed to have been travelling slowly and that his vision had been obscured by a cloud of dust, but it was felt his memory could have been affected by

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

References

Railways Archive account, including official Accident Report Railways Archive account and Accident Report of 1946 accident
* Disasters on the London Underground Railway accidents in 1953 1953 disasters in the United Kingdom 1953 in London Stratford, London April 1953 events in the United Kingdom History of the London Borough of Newham Train collisions in England Rail accidents caused by a driver's error {{London-transport-stub