Purley station rail crash
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The Purley station rail crash was a train collision that occurred just to the north of
Purley railway station Purley railway station is in the London Borough of Croydon on the Brighton Main Line, measured from ( from ), in Travelcard Zone 6. It is a junction, with branches to Caterham and Tattenham Corner. History Purley station has been known by ...
in the
London Borough of Croydon The London Borough of Croydon () is a London borough in south London, part of Outer London. It covers an area of . It is the southernmost borough of London. At its centre is the historic town of Croydon from which the borough takes its name; ...
on Saturday 4 March 1989, leaving five dead and 88 injured. The collision was caused by the driver of one of the trains passing a signal at danger; he pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 months in prison plus six months suspended, although this was reduced to four months upon appeal, and in 2007 overturned. The
Department of Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...
report noted that the signal had a high incidence of being passed at danger and recommended that an automatic train protection system should be introduced without delay and in the interim a repeater for the signal that had been passed be installed.


Collision

On 4 March 1989 the 12:50 Horsham to
London Victoria Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street (not the Q ...
, consisting of a four-car class 423 electric multiple unit no. 3441, stopped at
Purley railway station Purley railway station is in the London Borough of Croydon on the Brighton Main Line, measured from ( from ), in Travelcard Zone 6. It is a junction, with branches to Caterham and Tattenham Corner. History Purley station has been known by ...
. As it left the station, it crossed from the slow line to the fast line as scheduled and at 13:39 was struck from behind by the following 12:17
Littlehampton Littlehampton is a town, seaside resort, and pleasure harbour, and the most populous civil parish in the Arun District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the English Channel on the eastern bank of the mouth of the River Arun. It is south sout ...
to London Victoria, consisting of four-car class 421 units nos. 1280 and 1285 (for a total of eight cars). The first six coaches of the Littlehampton train left the track and came off the embankment, killing five passengers and injuring 88.


Aftermath

The first calls to the emergency services came from members of the public. The driver of a
light engine Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United St ...
running on an adjacent track saw the collision and contacted the signalbox. The signalling equipment had been damaged in the collision and alarms had sounded in the box. The signalmen in the box spoke to railway control at Waterloo, but due to confusion about the location of the trains, police in East Sussex were first contacted. The collision had tripped circuit breakers controlling the DC traction current, but safety could not be assured as the supervisory circuits had been damaged. The incident was attended by British Transport Police, the fire brigade and the ambulance service, and a police helicopter was used to fly doctors to the site. Passengers who were able to walk were evacuated via Purley station, the last casualty being taken to hospital at about 15:15; the search however continued until 17:00. The railway was closed until 6 March, although the damaged vehicles that lay on the embankment side were not all removed until 9 March. The crossover was replaced, and normal operations were restored on 27 March.


Trial, report and appeals

Before the Ministry of Transport report was published, Robert Morgan – the driver of the Littlehampton train – pleaded guilty to manslaughter and was sentenced to 12 months in prison plus six months suspended. The report, published in 1989, found no fault in the Littlehampton train or signalling system, and concluded that the driver had failed to keep the train's speed under control, missing the preceding caution signal and passing the danger signal protecting the Horsham train. The line is equipped with four aspect colour light signalling and British Rail's
Automatic Warning System The Automatic Warning System (AWS) was introduced in the 1950s in the United Kingdom to provide a train driver with an audible warning and visual reminder that they were approaching a distant signal at caution. Its operation was later extended t ...
(AWS). However the report noted that the signal had a high incidence of being passed at danger – four drivers had previously passed the signal when at danger in the previous five years. The AWS in use gave the same warning for either of the caution signals and danger, and was capable of being reset by a driver in a lapse of concentration. The report recommended that an automatic train protection system should be introduced without delay, and in the interim a repeater for the signal that had been passed be installed. Morgan's sentence was later cut on appeal to four months, and on 12 December 2007 his conviction for manslaughter was overturned by the Court of Appeal, ruling the conviction '' unsafe'' as "something about the infrastructure of this particular junction was causing mistakes to be made" as new evidence showed that there had been four previous signals passed at danger at the same location in the five years before the crash. He died in March 2009, aged 66, as a result of drowning whilst sailing in the
River Medina The River Medina is the main river of the Isle of Wight, England, rising at St Catherine's Down near Chale, and flowing northwards through the county town Newport, towards the Solent at Cowes. The river is a navigable tidal estuary from Newpo ...
on the Isle of Wight.


Legacy

A memorial garden was created at the station to commemorate the accident.


References and notes


Notes


References


Bibliography

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Further reading

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External links


BBC report of accident
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purley Station Rail Crash Railway accidents and incidents in London Transport in the London Borough of Croydon History of the London Borough of Croydon Railway accidents in 1989 1989 disasters in the United Kingdom 1989 in England 1989 in London Railway accidents involving a signal passed at danger Accidents and incidents involving Network SouthEast March 1989 events in the United Kingdom Train collisions in England Rail accidents caused by a driver's error