Stafford rail crash (1996)
| Date | 8 March 1996 |
|---|---|
| Location | Stafford, Staffordshire |
| Country | England |
| Rail line | West Coast Main Line |
| Operator | Rail Express Systems |
| Cause | Axle failure |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 2 |
| Deaths | 1 |
| Injuries | 22 |
| List of UK rail accidents by year | |
On 8 March 1996, a Travelling Post Office mail train hauled by a Rail Express Systems British Rail Class 86 electric locomotive (no 86239) collided with a section of a freight train that had derailed on the adjacent line and fouled the path of the TPO mail train at Rickerscote just south of Stafford. One person, a mail sorter, was killed in the crash and twenty two others including the driver of the mail train were injured.
The cause of the collision was the failure of an axle on one of the tanker wagons of the freight train, which was carrying liquid carbon dioxide. It caused the wagon and adjacent ones to derail, into the path of the closely approaching mail train, which was travelling at 60 mph (97 km/h).
The driver of the mail train had no time to brake and the force of the collision spun the locomotive around and catapulted it up the embankment, where it came to rest against the end wall of a house.
See also
External links
- http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/docsummary.php?docID=183 - HMRI report at Railwaysarchive.co.uk
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Coordinates: 52°47′6″N 2°6′36″W / 52.78500°N 2.11000°W