The 1915 Ilford rail crash occurred on 1 January 1915 when an express passenger train

passed a signal at danger A signal passed at danger (SPAD) is an event on a railway where a train passes a stop signal without authority. This is also known as running a red, in the United States as a stop signal overrun (SSO) and in Canada as passing a stop signal. SP ...

and collided with another passenger train that was stopped at

Ilford railway station Ilford railway station is on the Great Eastern Main Line serving the town of Ilford in the London Borough of Redbridge, east London. It is down the line from Liverpool Street station, London Liverpool Street and is situated between and . Its ...

on the

Great Eastern Main Line The Great Eastern Main Line (GEML, sometimes referred to as the East Anglia Main Line) is a major railway line on the British railway system which connects Liverpool Street station in central London with destinations in east London and t ...

in Essex, England. Ten people died and approximately 500 complained of injury.

Collision

At approximately 08:40 on 1 January 1915 the crew of the 07:06 express service from Clacton to

London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a major central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is ...

failed to see that the distant and

home signal The application of railway signals on a Rail transport, rail layout is determined by various factors, principally the location of points of potential conflict, as well as the speed and frequency of trains and the movements they require to make ...

s at the Ilford east

signal box A signal is both the process and the result of transmission of data over some media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processing, information theory and biology. In ...

were at danger. The signalman tried to attract their attention by shouting and waving a red flag from the signal box, but to no avail. At the west end of the station, the 08:20 local service from to Liverpool Street was crossing over from the local line to the through line when it was run into by the Clacton express travelling on the through line at a speed variously estimated at . The impact completely destroyed the eighth coach and severely damaged five others of the Gidea Park train, as well as the engine and first two vehicles of the Clacton train. Ten passengers died and over 500 complained of injury. The official report attributed blame to the driver of the Clacton train for his "insufficient care in noting the positions of his signals when approaching Ilford". It also noted that the accident would have been much less likely if some form of

Automatic Warning System Automatic Warning System (AWS) is a railway safety system invented and predominantly used in the United Kingdom. It provides a train driver with an audible indication of whether the next Railway_signal, signal they are approaching is clear or a ...

had been in use, and recommended its introduction.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilford rail crash, 1915 Railway accidents and incidents in London Railway accidents in 1915 1915 in England Rail transport in Essex Railway accidents and incidents in Essex Transport in the London Borough of Redbridge 1915 in London Accidents and incidents involving Great Eastern Railway 1910s in Essex Rail crash 1915 disasters in the United Kingdom January 1915 in the United Kingdom Train collisions in England

Collision

See also

Sources