NOV2018b.qxp_RMT 12/11/2018 11:11 Page 16
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CLAPHAM
30 YEARS ON Have the lessons of the 1988 Clapham Junction rail crash which killed 35 people been forgotten?
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At 8:10 am on the morning of December 12 1988, a crowded commuter train, the ‘Poole’ service, ran head-on into the rear of another train which was stationary in a cutting just south of Clapham Junction station. After that impact the first train veered to its right and struck a third oncoming train, fortunately there were no passengers on this stock movement. As a result of the accident 35 people died and nearly 500 were injured, 69 of them seriously. The stationary train had come to a stand after signal
WF138 unexpectedly changed from green to red in front of the driver. The driver of this service brought his train to an immediate stand and used a line-side telephone to contact the signaller and was about to return to his train when the Poole train, driving on green, did not have a chance to stop before colliding with the stationary train. At the same time an ECS train heading south was also involved in the accident after striking wreckage of the derailed ‘Poole’ train. The driver of the stationary train immediately
