South Croydon rail crash

South Croydon rail crash
Details
Date	24 October 1947 08:37
Location	South Croydon, Surrey
Country	England
Line	Brighton Main Line
Operator	Southern Railway
Cause	Signalman error
Statistics
Trains	2
Passengers	~1,800
Deaths	32
Injured	183
List of UK rail accidents by year

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 Bridge 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 London Bridge 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, all caused by misuse of the Sykes release key or similar override mechanism, occurred at Battersea Park in 1937, Barnes in 1955 and Crayford railway station in 1959.

References

• "24th October 1947: 32 killed in South Croydon train crash". London Today. 26 January 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2009.
• Mount, Lt Col A H L (18 December 1948). "Report on the Collision near South Croydon Junction" (PDF). Ministry of Transport. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
• Nock, O.S.; Cooper, B.K. (1987) [1966]. Historic Railway Disasters (4th ed.). Shepperton: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-1752-2.
• Rolt, L.T.C.; Kichenside, Geoffrey (1982) [1955]. Red for Danger (4th ed.). Newton Abbot: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-8362-0.