On This Day in 1973, Ealing Rail Crash
On this day in 1973, a British Rail express passenger train was derailed on the Great Western Main Line between Ealing Broadway and West Ealing in west London, causing one of the most serious railway accidents of the decade. The 17:18 service from London Paddington to Oxford was travelling at about 70 mph and was carrying around 650 passengers when it left the rails shortly after departing Paddington. Ten passengers were killed and 94 were injured, making it the deadliest main-line rail crash in Britain during the 1970s prior to the Moorgate tube disaster two years later.
The train was hauled by Class 52 diesel-hydraulic locomotive no. 1007, Western Talisman. Earlier that day, the locomotive had been at Old Oak Common depot for maintenance following a fault on a previous working. During battery charging, one of the battery box doors on the locomotive had been opened and later closed without being properly secured. Crucially, the locking mechanism and secondary safety catch were not correctly engaged before the locomotive was returned to service.
As the train accelerated away from Paddington, the unsecured battery box door worked loose and began to strike trackside equipment. It hit several structures as the train passed through Ealing Broadway station, damaging the door’s hinges and leaving it hanging partially open. The driver and secondman were unaware of the problem, as there were no warning indications in the cab and the train continued to receive clear signals.
The decisive moment occurred at Longfield Avenue junction between Ealing Broadway and West Ealing. The projecting battery box door struck the operating mechanism of a set of facing points. The impact forced the points to move beneath the train, sending the rear bogie of the locomotive onto a diverging route while the front bogie remained on the main line. This caused the locomotive to tip onto its side and derail at speed.
The coaches behind the locomotive derailed violently. The first coach left the track but remained upright, while the second coach overturned onto its side, blocking all four lines. Several of the following coaches jack-knifed and suffered severe structural damage. A bogie from one coach was driven into the body of another, an event believed to have caused many of the most serious injuries and fatalities. Other vehicles came to rest derailed but largely upright further along the line.
Subsequent investigations concluded that the crash was caused by failures in maintenance procedures at Old Oak Common depot. Although it was never established who last closed the battery box door, the inquiry found that working practices allowed the locomotive to leave the depot with the door unsecured. The official report criticised these procedures and led to modifications to the design of the battery box safety catch on Class 52 locomotives, changes intended to prevent a similar accident from happening again.