Tragedies on the Tracks: Notable Severe Railway Accidents in History - Knew Today

History and Culture

Tragedies on the Tracks: Notable Severe Railway Accidents in History

Railway 1, Knew Today
Spread the love

Railway accidents have had a significant impact on the history of transportation, causing loss of lives, injuries, and devastating consequences. Throughout history, there have been several severe railway accidents that serve as reminders of the importance of safety precautions and the continuous improvement of railway infrastructure. These tragic incidents have led to advancements in safety regulations, technology, and emergency response systems.

In this article, we will explore some of the most notable railway accidents in history, shedding light on their causes, consequences, and lessons learned from these unfortunate events. By examining these incidents, we can gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by the railway industry and the ongoing efforts to prevent future tragedies.

Quintinshill Rail Disaster (1915)

This is one of the deadliest railway accidents in the United Kingdom. It occurred near Gretna Green, Scotland, during World War I. A signalman’s error led to a collision between a troop train and a local passenger train. Shortly after the collision, a following express train collided with the wreckage. A total of 227 people died in the accident.

An official investigation concluded on 17 June 1915 for the Board of Commerce, determined that the incident was caused by two signalmen’s disregard for the regulations. The northbound local train had been reversed onto the southbound line with the northbound loop occupied to facilitate the passage of two late-running northbound sleepers. Its presence was thereafter ignored, and the southbound troop train was allowed to proceed. As a result, both signalmen were charged with manslaughter in England, then convicted of culpable murder in Scotland following a trial; the two sentences are roughly similar. They were re-hired by the railway business after being freed from a Scottish jail in 1916, but not as signalmen.

Several victims were never found since they were completely burned by the fire, and when the bodies of the Royal Scots were returned to Leith on May 24, they were buried together in a mass grave at Edinburgh’s Rosebank Cemetery. The coffins were stacked three high, with the top row draped in the Union Flag.

Harrow and Wealdstone Rail Crash (1952)

The Harrow and Wealdstone rail disaster occurred on October 8, 1952, during the morning rush hour at Harrow and Wealdstone station in Wealdstone, Middlesex (now Greater London). The collision resulted in 112 deaths and 340 injuries, with 88 of those injured being hospitalized. It is still the worst train catastrophe in British history and the second-deadliest overall after the Quintinshill rail tragedy in 1915.

The disaster spurred the implementation of British Railways’ Automatic Warning System (AWS), which had been met with skepticism by certain industry expenditure-prioritizing specialists who reasoned that extra track circuits and color light signals would save more lives. AWS had been installed on one-third of British Rail tracks by 1977.

Balvano Train Disaster (1944)

The Balvano train catastrophe was Italy’s deadliest railway accident and one of the worst railway disasters in history. It happened on the night of March 2-3, 1944, in Balvano, Basilicata. After a lengthy standstill in a tunnel, almost 500 persons aboard a steam-hauled, coal-burning freight train perished of carbon monoxide poisoning.

On the evening of March 2, 1944, freight train 8017 left Naples bound for Potenza. It was made up of 47 freight wagons and weighed 520 tonnes; it also carried several unlawful passengers.

It arrived at the Armi tunnel, which is 1,968 meters long. As the engines reached the tunnel, the wheels began to slip on the tracks which were moist from humidity, and the train lost speed until it came to a halt with practically all of the cars inside the tunnel.

The air was already thick with smoke from a previous train, and the drivers’ efforts to restart the train prompted the locomotives to emit even more carbon monoxide-laden smoke. As a result, the crew and stowaways were progressively asphyxiated, and they were unaware of what was happening to them. The vast majority died peacefully in their sleep. The majority of the few survivors were in the final few wagons, which were still out in the open.

Several variables contributed to the accident. The primary cause was the railway officials’ lack of surveillance, which allowed so many stowaways to ride aboard the train. Low-quality coal, a lack of air in the tunnel, damp tracks, and the train’s double-heading instead of a push-pull arrangement all played a role. The proximate reason was a lack of cooperation between the two locomotive drivers. Furthermore, the death toll was exacerbated by the delay in rescue attempts.

Gare de Lyon Train Accident (1988)

On June 27, 1988, an SNCF commuter train traveling inbound to Paris’s Gare de Lyon terminal collided with a stalled outbound train, killing 56 and wounding 60, making it the third deadliest rail tragedy in postwar France.

When the train approached the platform, a passenger in the railway’s second car abruptly up, applied the emergency brake, and exited the train. After 26 minutes of labor, driver Daniel Saulin, supported by Guard Jean Charles Bovée, fixed the brakes and continued. This operation took longer than normal, causing more passengers to exit the train. To make up for lost time, André Tollance, the station controller at Gare de Lyon, authorized Saulin to bypass the next planned stop and the final before the terminal, Maisons-Alfort.

After passing through Maisons-Alfort, the train hit a four-degree incline that led to the Gare de Lyon. Saulin realized his brakes hardly worked after he passed a yellow light ordering him to slow the train in preparation for being shifted to an empty station. Saulin urgently radioed an emergency notice as the train accelerated from its fall, but he failed to identify himself to the controller. He activated the general alert on his radio and exited his cab to evacuate the passengers to the train’s rear.

The train collided with a delayed outbound train as its passengers evacuated, heeding warnings issued by the delayed train’s driver, André Tanguy, who valiantly remained in his cab at the time, repeatedly repeating a caution over the intercom until he was killed in the collision.

Santiago de Compostela Derailment (2013)

The Santiago de Compostela accident happened on July 24, 2013, when an Alvia high-speed train heading from Madrid to Ferrol in northwestern Spain overturned at high speed on a bend approximately 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) outside the Santiago de Compostela railway station. The preliminary number of hospital fatalities among the 178 injured had reached 79 by the following 28 July.

When the train neared a curve on the track, its data recorder revealed that it was moving at more than twice the statutory speed restriction of 80 kilometers per hour. A track-side camera captured the collision, which showed all thirteen train carriages derailing and four toppling. On July 28, 2013, Francisco José Garzón Amo, the train’s driver, was charged with 79 charges of killing by professional carelessness and an unspecified number of counts of inflicting harm by professional recklessness.

King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia paid a visit to injured survivors in Santiago de Compostela.

As a result, the Spanish government announced a countrywide examination of all railway lines, signaling, and train drivers’ route knowledge.

Written by Chittaranjan Panda
Dr. Chittaranjan Panda is a distinguished medical professional with a passion for spreading knowledge and empowering individuals to make informed health and wellness decisions. With a background in Pathology, Dr. Chittaranjan Panda has dedicated his career to unraveling the complexities of the human body and translating medical jargon into easily understandable concepts for the general public. Profile

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

error: Content is protected !!