Hither Green rail crash

infobox UK rail accident


title= Hither Green rail crash
date= 5 November 1967 21:16
location= Hither Green Depot
line = Hastings Line
(BR Southern Region)
cause= Broken rail
trains= 1
pax= full train, some standing
deaths= 49
injuries= 78 The Hither Green rail crash was an accident on the British railway system that occurred on 5 November 1967 opposite Hither Green Traction Maintenance Depot (TMD), between Hither Green and Grove Park railway stations, in south-east London.

A Sunday evening express train from Hastings to London, consisting of twelve coaches (two six-car Class 201 diesel-electric multiple units), derailed at approximately 70 mph, shortly before the train crossed the St Mildred's Road railway bridge. Most of the carriages overturned, two of them having their sides torn off. The train was well-filled and 49 people died, making it Britain's sixth worst rail disaster in terms of death toll.

Cause of derailment

The accident was found to be due to a broken rail. At a rail joint, a fatigue crack through the first bolt hole in the running-on rail had progressively developed and a triangular piece of rail had broken out. It is probable that several previous trains had successfully negotiated the gap.

The track in general was heavily trafficked by a dense outer suburban service of multiple unit trains, all of them with nose-suspended traction motors imposing high impact forces on any imperfection in the running surface of the rails. The running-off sleeper at the joint had previously failed and been replaced with a shallower timber replacement, and the replacement had not been well packed. The running-on rail was supported on an undisturbed concrete sleeper, giving a very rigid support, so that successive trains dipped into, and then struck, the running-on rail end, stressing it severely. The cyclical stress promoted growth of the fatigue crack.

The train which actually derailed was fitted with a special suspension to limit sway of the bodies due to tight clearances on tunnels on its route on the Tonbridge–Hastings line, and this caused very high wheel forces at track irregularities; this may be the reason why this particular train (rather than the trains immediately previous) derailed.

The speed limit had been raised from 75 mph to 90 mph in July 1967, and viewed in retrospect it is clear that resources for basic track maintenance were overwhelmed.

Recommendations of Inquiry

Inspection techniques and jointing methods were revised, and the existing plans for replacing jointed rail by long-welded rail were given a boost. Concrete sleepers were banned at rail joints on the Southern Region.

Two of the survivors of the crash were Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees pop music band and his then girlfriend Molly Hullis. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/5/newsid_3135000/3135762.stm]

External links

* [http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docSummary.php?docID=99&PHPSESSID=a164ffb3ce218023b6c0cbd6bbe54422 Railways Archive] - Derailment at Hither Green (Summary)
* [http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/MoT_Hither1967.pdf?PHPSESSID=a164ffb3ce218023b6c0cbd6bbe54422 Railways Archive] - Derailment at Hither Green (Complete report, 1.54Mb, PDF)

References

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* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/november/5/newsid_3135000/3135762.stm Hither Green rail crash] (BBC News online 'On this day')