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The Barnes rail crash occurred at Barnes railway station late in the evening of 2 December 1955 in which 13 people were killed and 41 injured.
An electric passenger train travelling from Waterloo to Windsor and Chertsey collided with the rear of a freight train at about 35 mph. The wreckage from the passenger train short-circuited the third rail and electrical arcing started a fire in the wooden coach frames; the leading coach of the passenger train was burnt out.
The accident was caused by irregular operation of the block apparatus by the signalman at Barnes Junction. The signals were interlocked so that they could not be freed to show clear unless the block ahead was clear. A manual release key could be used to circumvent this interlocking if, for example, a broken mechanical link or track circuit gave a false indication of a train on the line. The signalman for the Point Pleasant, the block behind Barnes, offered the passenger train forward improperly, without waiting for the "Train out of section" acknowledgement from Barnes. The Barnes signalman had forgotten about the freight train and used his release key to clear the signals.
