Ealing rail crash
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| Details | |
|---|---|
| Date and time: | 19 December 1973 |
| Location: | Ealing |
| Rail line: | Great Western Main Line |
| Cause: | unlocked battery box |
| Statistics | |
| Trains: | 1 |
| Passengers: | |
| Deaths: | 10 |
| Injuries: | 94 |
| List of UK rail accidents by year | |
The Ealing rail crash was an accident on the British railway system that occurred on 19 December 1973. The 17:18 express train from Paddington station to Oxford was derailed while travelling at around 70 mph between Ealing Broadway and West Ealing. Ten passengers were killed and 94 were injured.
The locomotive, a Class 52 diesel-hydraulic, had spent the previous night at Old Oak Common depot and had had its batteries recharged. A door on the battery box had been left unlocked and fell open shortly into the journey. It hit the platform at Ealing Broadway, breaking the arms supporting it and allowing it to swing down and hit a point operating machine. The points moved under the locomotive, throwing it onto its side and derailing the coaches, which came to rest across the tracks.
[edit] References
| Rail accidents in the United Kingdom | Rail accidents in London |
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Barnes | Bexley | Cannon Street | Clapham Junction | Dagenham East | Ealing | Eltham Well Hall | Forest Gate | Harrow and Wealdstone | Hither Green | Holborn | Ladbroke Grove | Lewisham | Moorgate | Purley | Southall | South Croydon | Spa Road |
