Harrow and Wealdstone Rail Crash

The Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash was a multiple train collision at Harrow and Wealdstone station in London at 8:19 am on 8 October 1952. An express train from Perth, Scotland crashed at speed into the rear of a local passenger train that had stopped at the station; within a few seconds of the collision an express train, travelling at speed in the opposite direction, crashed into the Perth train's locomotive. It was the worst peacetime rail crash in the United Kingdom: there were 112 fatalities and 88 people were detained in hospital. The slow lines were reopened early the following morning, but it was several days before traffic was allowed on all lines.

The Ministry of Transport report found that the driver of the Perth train had passed a caution signal and two danger signals before colliding with the local train. The accident accelerated the introduction of Automatic Warning System – by the time the report had been published British Rail had agreed to a five-year plan to install the system that warned drivers that they had passed an adverse signal.