On 5 November 1967, a busy Sunday evening train service from to derailed near the Hither Green maintenance depot in

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, between and railway stations. Of the twelve coaches, many full of

standing passenger In urban public transport, provision is made for standing passengers, often called straphangers or standees, to rationalize operation and to provide extra capacity during rush hour. Occurrence On crowded rapid transit urban lines, while most tr ...

s, eleven were derailed and four turned onto their sides, resulting in 49 fatalities and 78 injuries. It is Britain's sixth worst

rail disaster Classification of railway accidents, both in terms of cause and effect, is a valuable aid in studying rail (and other) accidents to help to prevent similar ones occurring in the future. Systematic investigation for over 150 years has led to the r ...

in terms of

death toll ''Death toll'' is the number of dead as a result of a war, disaster, or other event. It may also refer to: * '' Death Toll'', 2008 action film * ''High-Ballin, 1978 action comedy film also released as ''Death Toll'' See also * List of list ...

. The derailment was found to be due to a broken rail. The Ministry of Transport report criticised the maintenance of the line, especially following a recent increase of the maximum speed of trains over the route. Following the accident the maintenance of the line was improved and plans accelerated for replacing jointed track by continuous welded rail.

Derailment

On Sunday 5 November 1967 the 19:43 Hastings to Charing Cross service, consisting of twelve coaches formed by two six-car diesel-electric multiple units – 1007 (a 6S) leading 1017 (a 6L) – and travelling at approximately , derailed at 21:16 shortly before the St Mildred's Road railway bridge, near Hither Green maintenance depot. The leading pair wheels of the third coach were derailed by a broken rail and ran on for a quarter of a mile (400 m) before hitting points, causing eleven coaches to be derailed and four of those to turn onto their sides. The train came to rest in , except for the leading coach that detached and ran on a further . It was a busy Sunday evening and there were passengers standing in the train. Forty-nine passengers were killed and 78 injured, 27 being detained in hospital. Most of the casualties had been travelling in the overturned coaches. The victims included James Gordon Melville Turner and Hugh Whittard, son of Walter Whittard international retailer of fine teas. Amongst the survivors were singer

Robin Gibb Robin Hugh Gibb (22 December 1949 – 20 May 2012) was a British singer and songwriter. He gained worldwide fame as a member of the Bee Gees pop group with elder brother Barry and fraternal twin brother Maurice. Robin Gibb also had his o ...

of the

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and his wife-to-be Molly Hullis.

Aftermath

The emergency services arrived within five minutes and the first casualty arrived at hospital 18 minutes after the derailment. The last survivor was taken to hospital at 01:00 the following morning. Local residents,

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and

Women's Voluntary Service The Royal Voluntary Service (known as the Women's Voluntary Services (WVS) from 1938 to 1966; Women's Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS) from 1966 to 2004 and WRVS from 2004 to 2013) is a voluntary organisation concerned with helping people in need ...

assisted the injured and shocked. The fast lines were blocked by the derailment and the traction current to the slow lines was turned off to allow the rescue. Traction current was temporarily restored to the slow lines for the Tuesday morning rush hour and returned to traffic at 15:40 that afternoon. The fast lines were reopened with a speed restriction at 06:20 Wednesday morning.

Inquiry and report

The derailment was found to be due to a broken rail at a rail joint, where a

fatigue Fatigue describes a state of tiredness that does not resolve with rest or sleep. In general usage, fatigue is synonymous with extreme tiredness or exhaustion that normally follows prolonged physical or mental activity. When it does not resolve ...

crack through the first bolt hole in a running-on rail had progressively developed and a triangular piece of rail had broken out. The sleeper at the joint had previously failed and been replaced with a shallower timber replacement. This replacement had not been well packed, was on a shallow layer of clean ballast and the rubber pad supporting the rail on the adjacent concrete sleeper was missing. After the derailment passengers commented about trains running at excessive speed, but British Rail routinely monitored this and the number of trains running in excess of the permitted speed was small and normally only by a small amount. Complaints were also received about the rough riding of Hastings line stock and another train of the same class was tested on Southern Region and Eastern Region track. Although the ride quality was better on the Eastern region track, it was not considered dangerous on Southern Region track. The speed limit for

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...

s on the track had been raised from to in July 1967. After the derailment the line was inspected and a temporary speed restriction of imposed. The report found that Civil Engineering and Inspection Departments had permitted too low a standard of maintenance on the line and had failed to assess the implications of increasing the speed of the trains.

Legacy

Maintenance of the line was improved,

inspection An inspection is, most generally, an organized examination or formal evaluation exercise. In engineering activities inspection involves the measurements, tests, and gauges applied to certain characteristics in regard to an object or activity. ...

techniques and jointing methods were revised, and plans for replacing

jointed track A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers, ...

continuous welded rail A railway track (British English and UIC terminology) or railroad track (American English), also known as permanent way or simply track, is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, railroad ties (sleepers ...

were accelerated. Concrete sleepers were banned at rail joints on the Southern Region. A plaque in Hither Green station commemorates the victims. Station staff and loved ones lay wreaths and flowers at the plaque on the anniversary of the disaster.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links

ITN news footage and interviews

Hither Green rail crash
BBC News online 'On this day' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hither Green Rail Crash Railway accidents and incidents in London Transport in the London Borough of Lewisham History of the London Borough of Lewisham Railway accidents in 1967 1967 disasters in the United Kingdom 1967 in London Derailments in England Accidents and incidents involving British Rail November 1967 events in the United Kingdom Robin Gibb