Ballymacarrett Railway Accident

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The railway accident Ballymacarrett was the collision of a train on a stationary passenger train in front of the train station Ballymacarrett , in a suburb of Belfast , Northern Ireland , on January 10, 1945. 22 people died.

Starting position

Visibility was very poor that morning due to fog and darkness. The technical systems of the Belfast and County Down Railway (BCDR) were not up to date. Both trains were traveling on the Belfast – Bangor line during the morning rush hour. They were therefore very busy. At the BCDR, the stop and proceed rule, which is very unusual in railway operations, stipulated that a signal showing "stop" was allowed to be driven over after two minutes of waiting and the section of the route behind it could be carefully driven, with the acoustic warning signal constantly sounding.

The front train, a carriage train pulled by a steam locomotive , carried 13 three-axle older passenger cars that still had wooden superstructures and was en route from Bangor to Belfast . The last car of the car had a red light to signal the end of the train . The train offered 724 seats, of which about 600 were occupied.

This was followed by a push-pull train from Holywood to Belfast on the outskirts of Belfast. It consisted of a former steel diesel railcar that had been converted into a control car . This was followed by two three-axle wagons. The unit was pushed by a tank locomotive , which drove backwards. The train had 186 seats, but was significantly overcrowded, so that a number of travelers stood. The control between the leading control car and the locomotive was mechanical and did not react as precisely as when it was operated on the locomotive itself.

the accident

After the second train had stopped at Sydenham station as scheduled and the passenger exchange had taken place, the exit signal of the station showed "Halt", because it secured the section of the route occupied by the train ahead. The driver then made use of the stop and proceed rule and drove into the occupied section. Since the train in front had continued, the second train made it to Victoria Park Station without any problems . As the journey continued, there were several travelers in the driver's cab , which was possibly also caused by the fact that a door of the vehicle for changing passengers was only accessible through the driver's cab.

When the train in front started at Ballymacarrett station, its entry signal showed "Stop" - as it later turned out, it was frozen in this position and could no longer be moved. The train came to a stop in front of it. The corresponding distant signal therefore showed "Waiting for a stop" and was located in the Victoria Park station exit . The engine driver of the second train interpreted this in such a way that the next main signal would show "Halt", but he could drive towards it at the permitted, reduced speed. He no longer expected that there could be another train in front of it. Because of the poor visibility, he only perceived the end-of-train signal of the first train when he had approached within 10 meters. He initiated the braking, but at 7:50 am collided with the end of the train in front.

The steel control car smashed the wooden superstructure of the last car of the front train and bored another three meters into the penultimate car. Most of the victims were in these two cars.

consequences

22 people died and 27 were also injured. Most of the victims came from Bangor.

There were two investigations into the accident:

  • A criminal investigation took place against the driver of the second train. He was charged with manslaughter in April 1945 , but acquitted because the court believed that the cause of the deaths was primarily the stop and proceed rule and the outdated vehicle material. Experts had stated that this stop and proceed rule was completely unique and that the vehicle's braking system was not very efficient.
  • The Railway Authority ( Her Majesty's Railway Inspectorate for Northern Ireland ) also determined the causes of the accident. This resulted in the research report by R. Dundas Duncan (see: Bibliography) . This investigation also found design-related technical defects in the vehicle.

In addition, there were at least 18 civil lawsuits against the railroad company, the total of 75,000 pounds sterling had to pay in compensation. The accident exacerbated the economically precarious situation of the BCDR. It was nationalized three years later .

As a result of the accident, the stop and proceed rule was lifted, push-pull trains ceased and all signals were equipped with telephones so that the train driver could receive instructions from the dispatcher in the event of a fault.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Duncan, p. 7.
  2. ↑ Reproduced from Duncan, p. 4.
  3. ↑ Bennet.
  4. ↑ Duncan, p. 1.
  5. ^ Duncan, p. 2.
  6. ^ Duncan, p. 2.
  7. ^ Duncan, p. 4.
  8. ↑ Bennet.
  9. ↑ Duncan, p. 8.


Coordinates: 54 ° 36 '12 "  N , 5 ° 53' 33.8"  W.