Hyde railway disaster

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The Hyde railway disaster occurred on June 4, 1943 near the small settlement of Hyde, New Zealand. It remains New Zealand's second worst rail disaster.

The disaster occurred in a deep cutting on the Otago Central Railway. The Cromwell to Dunedin express was travelling at speed through the cutting at about 1.45 pm when it failed to negotiate a bend and derailed. All seven carriages left the tracks and four of them telescoped into each other. Due to the remote location, it took some 90 minutes for rescuers to arrive, during which time the injured were tended by the passengers from the relatively undamaged rear carriages. Some passenger were trapped in the wreckage for several hours.

Of the 113 passengers on board, 21 were killed and a further 47 injured.

A commission of inquiry set up to investigate the crash reported that the train had been travelling at twice the recommended speed for the cutting. It ruled that the driver had been responsible for the crash. He was found to have been drunk at the time of the disaster. The driver was charged and found guilty of manslaughter.

The site of the disaster is now part of the Otago Central Rail Trail.