Hall Road Railroad Accident

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The Hall Road railway accident was a rear-end collision at Hall Road train station in the northern outskirts of Liverpool on July 27, 1905, in which 20 people died.

Hall Road railway disaster.jpg

Starting position

The railway infrastructure on which the accident occurred belonged to the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway . The line had been electrified shortly before . The electric railcars operating here had wooden superstructures.

A first train , a commuter train to Hall Road Station , had left Liverpool Exchange Station at 4:20 pm and went to Hall Road Station , where it ended. When the accident occurred, there were no more passengers on the train. It was driven onto an overtaking track to allow the express train to Southport that was scheduled to leave Liverpool at 4:30 pm to overtake. The driver of the local train went to the other end of his railcar to turn the train in order to prepare it for the return journey to Liverpool.

The following railcar, operating as an express train, consisted of four cars: Two 3rd class cars at the front (non-smokers), then the 1st class car and finally another 3rd class car (smoker). In the foremost carriage sat 22 travelers.

the accident

In retrospect, it was no longer possible to clarify whether the position of the switch connecting the through track and the overtaking track had been neglected , or whether the express train had changed the switch itself due to a technical defect in the vehicle itself or in the signaling system . In any case, at 16:37 he drove onto the local train at considerable speed. The Zugspitze of the express train drove under the first carriage of the local train that jacked up. The first two cars of the express train and the front vehicle of the local train were badly damaged in the collision and then immediately caught fire. The bogies of the front car of the local train were pushed under the second car.

consequences

Immediate consequences

20 people died. The driver of the local train managed to jump off before the impact, and the one of the express train survived injured. Almost all of the fatalities had traveled in the front vehicle of the express train. Only a few people could be rescued alive during the rescue work. 47 people were injured. The front part of the third carriage of the express train, a 1st class carriage, was also considerably damaged; but here there were no seriously injured persons. In the last carriage of the train, the passengers were all physically unharmed.

reaction

The station management had observed the accident from the platform and immediately had the entire route blocked and the traction current between the Seaforth Street and Formby stations cut off. There was sufficient first aid locally and there was also a nearby hospital to which the injured could be brought. The on-site helpers succeeded in extinguishing the fire very quickly, so that the recovered dead showed no signs of burns and the fire brigade no longer had to extinguish them when they arrived. The rescue of the injured and the recovery of the dead were delayed because the victims were all in the vehicle on which the first car of the local train was now lying. Only when a rescue train with a rescue crane had arrived could the upper car be lifted and the helpers had access to the vehicle below. The dead were laid out in the station waiting room for identification . A relief team from Southport arrived around 9:30 p.m. In order to illuminate the scene of the accident and to be able to continue the rescue work even after dark, wood from the destroyed wagons was set on fire to form a large fire.

Since this was the first serious accident after the electrification of the line, it was also discussed whether the electrification had had a negative impact on the safety of rail operations, in particular whether a short circuit caused by the accident had set the crashed vehicles on fire. This was ultimately denied by the investigation report.

See also

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ The Liverpool Exchange station was closed in 1977.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ NN: Terrible Railway Disaster .
  2. ↑ NN: The Dumbills .
  3. ^ NN: Terrible Railway Disaster .
  4. ↑ NN: The Dumbills ; NN: Terrible Railway Disaster .
  5. ^ NN: Terrible Railway Disaster .
  6. ^ NN: Terrible Railway Disaster .
  7. ^ NN: Hall Road Disaster.
  8. ^ NN: Terrible Railway Disaster .
  9. ^ NN: Terrible Railway Disaster .
  10. ↑ NN: The Dumbills .
  11. ^ NN: Hall Road Disaster.

Coordinates: 53 ° 29 ′ 51 ″  N , 3 ° 2 ′ 58.9 ″  W.