Cannon Street station rail crash

Details
Date and time:	8 January 1991
Location:	Cannon Street station
Rail line:	London - Sevenoaks
Cause:	Driver error
Statistics
Trains:	1
Passengers:
Deaths:	2
Injuries:	200
List of UK rail accidents by year

The Cannon Street station rail crash was an accident on the British railway system which occurred on 8 January 1991 at Cannon Street station. The accident killed 2 people and injured over 200 others. The 07:58 commuter train from Sevenoaks failed to stop at a dead end and collided with a buffer stop at around 10 mph. January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cannon Street is a National Rail and London Underground station in the City of London financial district of London, England. ... This lists railway accidents in Britain sorted by death toll. ... January 8 is the 8th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cannon Street is a National Rail and London Underground station in the City of London financial district of London, England. ... A Connex commuter train stands by the platform in Melbourne, Australia Regional rail systems, or commuter rail systems, usually provide a rail service through a central business district area into suburbs or other locations that draw large numbers of people on a daily basis. ... Sevenoaks is a town in Kent, in south-east England. ... A Buffer stop is a device to prevent railway vehicles from going past the end of a section of track. ...

Inquiry

No fault in the train's braking system could be found and the driver was held to blame. He was not tested for drugs until three days after the accident, whereupon traces of cannabis were found in his system. The public inquiry found that there was insufficient evidence to suggest this had caused the accident. Brakes are the devices on railway trains to bring the train to a standstill. ... A drug test is a process using some kind of biological matter taken from an individual to determine previous drug use. ... Species Cannabis indica Cannabis ruderalis Cannabis sativa Cannabis field seized by authorities Cannabis (drug) Hemp Hemp (disambiguation) Cannabis is a genus of flowering plant that includes one or more species. ... In the politics and government of Commonwealth countries such as Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, a public inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by the government. ...

The inquiry found that the cause of the accident was solely that of driver error. However, the inquiry found that:

• The age of the elderly trains increased the effect of the impact. One example is a coach which was built on an underbody dating from 1895, having been rebuilt a number of times and involved in a previous collision with a locomotive in 1958.
• The interior design of the coaches' fittings and the large number of slam doors could have resulted in weaknesses in the structure of the rolling stock.
• More research is needed on the effect of impacts on passengers, particularly standing passengers, on board commuter trains.
• Automatic Train Protection, or ATP, should be installed as quickly as practicably possible.
• On-train data recorders would make the finding of evidence easier following railway accidents.
• Legislation should be introduced to make it an offence for railway staff with safety responsibilities to be intoxicated while on duty. (A secondary cause of the Eltham Well Hall rail crash).
• Sliding buffer stops might have minimised the injury compared to the hydraulic buffer stops in this incident.
• Arrangements for the booking-on of staff should be reviewed (a recommendation also made in the report for the Eltham Well Hall rail crash).

Automatic train protection is speed and distance supervision, usually intervening (usually deploying emergency brake, as a last measure) when the driver of a train omits to react on optical signals given from the wayside system. ...

External links

• Accident at Cannon Street on 8th January 1991
• A Report of the Collision that occurred on 8 January 1991 at Cannon Street Station (1.1 Mb)