The South Croydon rail crash on the British railway system occurred on 24 October 1947.
The crash took place south of South Croydon railway station. Two electric commuter trains collided in fog and 32 people were killed, including the driver of the second train. It was the worst accident on Britain's Southern Railway.
The crash was a rear-end collision caused by a signalman's error. The inexperienced signalman at Purley Oaks forgot about a train from Haywards Heath to London Victoria standing invisible in the fog. The line was protected by the Sykes "Lock and Block" apparatus, which prevented him from allowing another train into the section until the preceding one had left it. However, he believed that the elderly apparatus was faulty and used a release key. This allowed a train from Tattenham Corner to Victoria into the same section and they collided near South Croydon Junction. The trains were crowded in the rush hour, carrying 800 and 1000 people respectively, hence the heavy death toll.
Similar crashes occurred at Battersea Park in 1937, Barnes in 1955 and Crayford railway station in 1959.
Famous quotes containing the words south, rail and/or crash:
“We in the South were ready for reconciliation, to be accepted as equals, to rejoin the mainstream of American political life. This yearning for what might be called political redemption was a significant factor in my successful campaign.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“If goodness were only a theory, it were a pity it should be lost to the world. There are a number of things, the idea of which is a clear gain to the mind. Let people, for instance, rail at friendship, genius, freedom, as long as they will—the very names of these despised qualities are better than anything else that could be substituted for them, and embalm even the most envenomed satire against them.”
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830)
“O ship
white-sailed of Crete,
you brought my mistress
from her quiet palace
through breaker and crash of surf
to love-rite of unhappiness!”
—Hilda Doolittle (1886–1961)