Eccles rail crash (1941)
This article is about the 1941 rail accident. For the 1984 accident, see Eccles rail crash (1984).
| Date | 30 December 1941 |
|---|---|
| Time | 08:18 |
| Location | Eccles, Lancashire |
| Country | England |
| Rail line | Liverpool to Manchester Line |
| Operator | London Midland and Scottish Railway |
| Cause | Signal passed at danger, fog, error in working practices |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 2 |
| Deaths | 23 |
| Injuries | 57 |
| List of UK rail accidents by year | |
The 1941 Eccles rail crash occurred on 30 December 1941 at the east end of Eccles railway station in Lancashire, England.
Events
A westbound train passed danger signals in fog in the wartime blackout and collided at about 30 mph with an eastbound train traversing a crossover. A major contributory cause was that the signalman had erroneously suspended "fog working", which would give greater distances between trains, due to a misunderstanding about whether fogmen were on duty. The fog was worsened by the nearby Manchester Ship Canal and visibility was as low as 10 yards.[1]
Victims
Twenty-three people were killed.
References
- ↑ Wilson, Major G R S (9 April 1942), Accident Report (PDF), Ministry of War Transport, retrieved 2008-11-12 (Poor-quality scanned typescript)
Railway accidents in 1941 | |
|---|---|
| Location and date |
|
1940   1942 | |
Coordinates: 53°29′07″N 2°19′52″W / 53.4854°N 2.3311°W
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