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–Bathga ...

, 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 popu ...

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 ...

. 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". 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 signal without authority. In the United States and Canada, this ...

(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