Moorgate Underground Accident

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In the Moorgate tube crash drove on 28 February 1975, a train of Highbury Branch is the Northern Line , now the Northern City Line , at the time of the London Underground operated route in the tunnel and head station Moorgate almost unabated against the End wall of the tunnel end, where the track ended. 43 dead and 74 injured were the result. This was the worst rail accident in the history of the London Underground .

Sister train to the crashed train of the type 1938 Tube Stock

Starting position

Moorgate was then the southern terminus of a line on the Northern Line. This section of the route has the clearance profile of the British mainline railways . It was taken over by British Rail in the year of the accident - which had been agreed before the accident - and continued to operate as a railway line . The track 9 ends there underground in a stump tunnel. This was secured against crossings by an over 20 meter long run-out track, a buffer stop, a sand pit and a red signal that constantly required "stop" .

The train that was involved in the accident was made up of two units of the 1938 tube stock , each of which consisted of three railcars or sidecars . These have a significantly lower clearance profile than vehicles on the main line. The train came from Drayton Park station , where it left at 8:39 a.m. and was occupied by about 300 passengers .

Accident

The train reached track 9 of Moorgate station at 8:46 a.m. He didn't brake, but accelerated a little and drove through the station and into the Stumpftunnel at a speed of 50 to 65 km / h. Up to two seconds before the impact, power was still being given to the drive of the train, as was subsequently determined. Witnesses on the platform reported that the driver sat upright and looked forward. The sand pit and the buffer stop could only insignificantly alleviate the force of the impact. When crossing the buffer stop, the first vehicle was thrown upwards and hit the end wall of the tunnel near the ceiling. The vehicle, which was 13 meters long, was compressed to just under seven meters by the kinetic energy of the rest of the train pushing in. Due to the inclined, upward position of the leading car and the large tunnel profile in relation to the vehicle used, the second car pushed over the first. The supporting frame of both vehicles buckled. The third vehicle pushed onto the end of the second and was damaged in the front area. The last two cars were undamaged.

consequences

The rescue work was very difficult as most of the victims were in the crushed wagons in the stump tunnel. The last survivor could only be recovered more than 13 hours after the accident, the body of the driver only after more than four days. His hand was on the brake lever - not in front of his face to protect it. The cleanup lasted until March 6, and it took four more days to resume traffic.

The investigation report was published on March 4, 1976. He found no technical defects in the vehicle or the railway infrastructure . The autopsy of the driver did not reveal any indications of a health impairment. A temporary paralysis due to a transitory ischemic attack or an akinesia with mutism were considered by the pathologists to be a possible explanation, but cannot be proven organically. A suicide on the part of the driver could be ruled out. The official investigation ended with the statement that there was insufficient evidence to establish the cause of the accident. The coroner therefore came to the judgment "accidental death" ( force majeure ).

As a technical consequence of the station Moorgate and other similar operational situations facilities have been built, leading to an emergency brake lead when a train at an excessive speed in a dead-end track enters ( "Moorgate protection").

See also

literature

Web links

Coordinates: 51 ° 31 '6.6 "  N , 0 ° 5' 20.1"  W.