Eccles rail crash (1941)

This article is about the 1941 rail accident. For the 1984 accident, see Eccles rail crash (1984).
Eccles rail crash 1941
Date 30 December 1941
Time 08:18
Location Eccles, Lancashire
Country England
Rail line Liverpool to Manchester Line
Operator London Midland and Scottish Railway
Cause Signal passed at danger, fog, error in working practices
Statistics
Trains 2
Deaths 23
Injuries 57
List of UK rail accidents by year

The 1941 Eccles rail crash occurred on 30 December 1941 at the east end of Eccles railway station in Lancashire, England.

Events

A westbound train passed danger signals in fog in the wartime blackout and collided at about 30 mph with an eastbound train traversing a crossover. A major contributory cause was that the signalman had erroneously suspended "fog working", which would give greater distances between trains, due to a misunderstanding about whether fogmen were on duty. The fog was worsened by the nearby Manchester Ship Canal and visibility was as low as 10 yards.[1]

Victims

Twenty-three people were killed.

References

  1. Wilson, Major G R S (9 April 1942), Accident Report (PDF), Ministry of War Transport, retrieved 2008-11-12 (Poor-quality scanned typescript)

Coordinates: 53°29′07″N 2°19′52″W / 53.4854°N 2.3311°W / 53.4854; -2.3311

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