Selby rail crash
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The Selby rail crash was a high-speed train accident that occurred at Great Heck near Selby, Yorkshire, England on the morning of 28 February 2001. Six passengers and four railway staff were killed and a further 82 people suffered serious injuries.
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[edit] Events
The crash happened at approximately 0613 (GMT), when a Land Rover, towing a loaded trailer and driven by Gary Hart, swerved off the M62 motorway just before the bridge which carries it over the East Coast Main Line. The car ran down an embankment and onto the southbound railway track. Hart tried to reverse the car from the track, but could not. As he was using a mobile telephone to call the emergency services, the car was hit by a GNER Intercity 225 heading southbound from Newcastle to London King's Cross at over 120 mph.
The Intercity 225 was propelled by Class 91 No. 91023 and led by a lightweight Driving Van Trailer (DVT). The leading bogie of the DVT derailed but the train stayed upright until rail infrastructure associated with a junction to nearby sidings deflected it into the path of an oncoming freight train travelling from Immingham to Ferrybridge hauled by a Class 66/5 No. 66521 about half a mile (642 metres) from the initial impact with the Land Rover. The driver of 66521, Stephen Dunn, as well as the GNER driver, John Weddle, was killed. Two train crew and six passengers from the Intercity 225 also died. A driving instructor travelling in the cab of 66521 teaching Mr Dunn, a driver with 24 years of experience learning a new route, survived the accident.
Immediately before the impact of the two trains, the speed of the IC225 was estimated as 88 mph and that of the freight train as 54 mph. With an estimated closing speed of 142 mph, the collision between the trains is the highest speed railway incident that has occurred in the UK.
Hart escaped the collision unscathed. He claimed that his car had suffered a mechanical fault, or had collided with an object on the road. However, an investigation, including reconstruction of Hart's Land Rover to demonstrate that it was not mechanically defective, concluded that Hart had been driving in a sleep-deprived condition, and had not even braked the car as it went down the embankment. It later transpired that Hart had stayed up the previous night talking on the telephone to a woman he had met via an Internet dating agency.
[edit] Aftermath
Hart was tried on ten counts of causing death by dangerous driving. On 13 December 2001 he was found guilty, and sentenced to five years' imprisonment.Now, Hart has been released after a half sentence, for cooperation.
Despite Hart's conviction, campaigners have drawn attention to the inadequate length of the crash barriers alongside the road. According to the Health and Safety Executive's final report, the Land Rover had left the road some 24 metres before the barrier started, and had easily broken through the simple wooden fence that lined the track. However, a 2003 Highways Agency review of crash barriers on bridges over railways concluded that only three bridges nationwide were in need of upgrading. The bridge at Great Heck was not one of them.
[edit] Trivia
- In a bizarre coincidence, No. 91023 was also involved in the Hatfield rail crash some months earlier. The locomotive escaped with only slight damage on both occasions. Following technical upgrade of the Class 91 fleet, which led to all locomotives having 100 added to the number (91001 became 91101 etc) 91023 was renumbered to 91132, not 91123, perhaps to appease superstitious drivers.
- An unusual aspect of the emergency response was the need to carry out disinfecting procedures at the scene due to the foot and mouth epidemic in the UK at the time of the incident.
- 66526 has since been named "Driver Steve Dunn (George)", in memory of the Freightliner driver killed in the accident. It also carries a plaque commemorating the accident.
