Welwyn Garden City Rail Crash - 1935 Crash

1935 Crash

The crash occurred on 15 June 1935. A train from London Kings Cross to Leeds collided with a train from Kings Cross to Newcastle at night and 14 people were killed and 29 injured.

The accident was a rear collision caused by a signalman's error. The signalman at Welwyn Garden City, who had been fairly recently appointed to the box, became confused and accepted two trains into the same block section. The first (Newcastle) train received a signal check and was slowed down to 15-20 mph; the Leeds train consisting of 11 coaches hauled by Class K3 2-6-0 No 4009 ran into it at approximately 65 mph.

There were several significant features. Firstly, the modern rolling stock withstood the violent collision well (apart from the last coach which was totally destroyed); older coaches would have been crushed, with much heavier loss of life. Secondly, the Inspecting Officer felt that the signalman had been promoted beyond his level of competence for such a busy box, and the assessment and training procedures for signalmen should be improved. Thirdly, he recommended that the block instruments should be linked to the track circuits to prevent future occurrences; this was widely adopted and known as Welwyn Control.