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The Ladbroke Grove rail crash was a British rail accident on 5 October 1999 in which thirty-one people died.The disaster occurred at 08:08 and 58 seconds BST, when a three-car Class 165 diesel multiple unit train operated by Thames Trains collided with a High Speed Train (8 coaches with a diesel power car ( locomotive) at each end) of First Great Western at Ladbroke Grove Junction about two miles / 4km west of London Paddington station. The trains collided almost head-on at the junction with a combined closing speed of approximately 130 mph / 205 km/h.
The first car of the Thames Train, the 0806 from Paddington to Bedwyn, Wiltshire, driven by Michael Hodder, was totally destroyed in the impact, and the diesel fuel carried by this train at the start of its daily journey ignited, causing a series of fires in the wreckage, particularly in coach H at the front of the HST, which was completely burnt out. 31 people were killed in the disaster, including the drivers of both trains, and some 400 were injured, some very seriously.
The immediate cause of the disaster was identified as Driver Hodder passing signal SN109 when it was showing a red signal (technically known as a Signal Passed At Danger or SPAD), 563 metres before the impact point. However, the public inquiry conducted over the next year by Lord Cullen identified many contributory factors, blaming Thames Trains' driver training procedures (Driver Hodder had only qualified two months earlier), and RailtrackRailtrack was a group of companies which owned the tracks, signals, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and some stations of the British railway system from its privatisation in 1996 until 2002. Its main operating arm, Railtrack plc was sold to "not for div's Great Western Zone (who were responsible for the maintenance of the track and signalling) who had not taken appropriate action in view of the fact that there had been eight SPADs at signal SN109 in the preceding six years (although all those trains stopped before reaching the junction), or taken sufficient action in response to complaints from train drivers about the visibility of various signals, particularly SN109. The Health and Safety ExecutiveThe Health and Safety Executive (HSE), reporting to the Health and Safety Commission, is the British government body responsible for the regulation of risks to health and safety in the UK. It was created as a result of the Health and Safety at Work, etc,'s Railway Inspectorate was also criticised for its inspection procedures, and the Railtrack signalling centre staff at SloughFor slough (In the UK, pronounced to rhyme with bough; In the US, pronounced 'slew') as a type of aquatic feature, see Slough (wetland). Slough (pronounced to rhyme with bough) is a town and unitary authority in the county of Berkshire in the south of Eng were criticised for not sending a radio "emergency all stop" signal immediately it was realised that the Thames Train had passed a signal at danger; they were expecting the train to stop shortly after the signal as had happened with the earlier SPADs at that signal, and it is not known if the radio signal eventually sent was received before the impact 33 seconds later.
The disaster occurred at the point where the main line from London to South Wales and the West of England switches from two lines in each direction, carrying fast and slow trains, to multiple lines signalled to allow trains to travel in either direction, in and out of the platforms of Paddington Station. The track layout had been modified in this way by British RailBritish Railways (BR later rebranded as British Rail ran the British railway system, from the nationalisation of the 'Big Four' British railway companies in 1948 until its privatisation in stages between 1994 and 1997. History Background The rail transpor in the early 1990s, but the line had subsequently been electrified to allow the new Heathrow ExpressThe Heathrow Express is a train service from Heathrow Airport to Paddington in central London operated by the Heathrow Express Operating Authority, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BAA. The service operates from approximately 5am until midnight with trains ev service to operate from 1994, and the new overhead power lines obstructed the view of various signals. Signal SN109 had a particularly restricted view as there was a road bridge over the railway line a few hundred metres before the gantry on which SN109, together with four other signals, was mounted. The design of signal SN109 was non-standard, in that it was shaped like a reversed "L", with the red lamp on the horizontal arm rather than near the top of the signal as is standard, and it is thought that this, together with the bright sun rising in the east behind the train and shining directly into the signal lenses may have misled the inexperienced Driver Hodder into thinking that the signal was showing a proceed aspect. The On-Train Data Recorder showed that he had reacted correctly to earlier caution signals.
This was the second major accident on the Great Western Main Line in less than eighteen months, the other being the Southall rail crashThe Southall rail crash occurred on the Great Western Railway line into Paddington. A High Speed Train operating with a defective Automatic Warning System indicator went through a red signal ( SPAD) and collided with a freight train leaving its depot. of May 1998, just a few miles further west, and this severely damaged public confidence in the safety of Britain's privatised railway systemThe United Kingdom consists of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and previously consisted of Great Britain and the whole of Ireland. Rail transport systems developed independently on the two islands of Great Britain and Ireland, and most of the railway.
On 5 April 2004, Thames Trains was fined a record £2,000,000 for violations of health and safety law in connection with this accident.
