Event    From 8/4/1953 

Stratford Underground crash

Categories: Tragedy, Transport

The accident, caused by driver error after a signal failure, occurred on the Central line of the London Underground. A signal in the tunnel between Stratford and Leyton had been damaged, and this and the preceding signal were both showing red. Trains were moving slowly past the failed signals, under the 'Stop and Proceed' rule, in which they were required to move with extreme caution.

However, one train collided with the back of another which was waiting at the first signal, and the front two coaches were partially telescoped. 12 people died and 46 were injured. The website from which our photograph is taken also includes a Pathé News item on the rescue operation.

Credit for this entry to: Alan Patient of www.plaquesoflondon.co.uk

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Stratford Underground crash

Commemorated ati

Stratford Underground crash

{Above the London Transport logo:} In remembrance of the twelve people killed...

Read More

Other Subjects

Sai Leung
1 memorial
George Neighbour

George Neighbour

Died in the Arding and Hobbs fire. He was employed as a carver in the second floor dining room. During the fire he had been seen assisting a young woman escape through a window.  "The floor was al...

Person, Tragedy

1 memorial
Dan Harris

Dan Harris

Aged 28, returning from work to his home in Wanstead, hit by an Olympic media bus (ferrying journalists to the Olympic site).  Died at the scene. Dan was a keen cyclist, having biked across Thailan...

Person, Cyclist, Tragedy

1 memorial
Antonio Lacovara

Antonio Lacovara

Graphic designer killed in the Ladbroke Grove rail disaster, aged 24. Andrew Behan has kindly carried out further research: Antonio Lacovara was born on 28 May 1975 in Nottingham. He was the son o...

Person, Tragedy

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Moulin Cinema

Moulin Cinema

Cinema. Originally opened by Montagu Pyke in 1910 as the Piccadilly Cinematograph Theatre. It went through several name changes, before being called (in French) after the nearby Windmill Theatre. I...

Building, Cinema

1 memorial