View source for Chester General rail crash

{{Short description|1972 disaster in Chester, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}}
{{Infobox public transit accident
| name                = Chester General rail crash
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| image               = Chester railway station platforms - 2005-10-09.jpg
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| caption             = Chester Station seen in 2005, showing the section of roof that was not replaced
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| coordinates         = {{coord |53|11|47|N|2|52|41.7|W|type:event_region:GB-CHS|display=inline,title}}
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| date                = 8 May 1972
| time                = 20:50
| location            = [[Chester railway station]], [[Chester]], [[England]].
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| location_city       = [[Chester]]
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| country             = {{GBR}}
| line                = [[Chester to Manchester Line]]
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| type                = Collision, derailment, fire
| cause               = Failure to connect vacuum brake pipes to the locomotive
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| trains              = 2
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| deaths              = 0
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The '''Chester General rail crash''' occurred on 8 May 1972 at Chester, northwest England, resulting in extensive fire damage, but no casualties. It was caused by a failure to connect the freight train's brakes correctly due to human error.

==Course of events==

The 19:31 freight train from [[Ellesmere Port]] to [[Mold, Flintshire|Mold]] Junction consisted of 38 wagons hauled by a [[British Rail Class 24|Class 24]] diesel locomotive no. 5028. The first five wagons were tank wagons containing [[kerosene]], [[petrol]] and [[gas oil]].

At around 20:50 the train was approaching [[Chester railway station]] (then known as Chester General) on a 1 in 100 falling [[gradient]] when the driver discovered that he did not have sufficient [[brakes|braking power]] to stop the train. It ran past a signal at danger and through a set of points which were set for no. 11 [[bay platform]], where an empty [[diesel multiple unit]] was standing.

As there was nothing more he could do, the driver jumped out onto the platform with the train still travelling at around 20&nbsp;mph. It ploughed straight into the DMU and completely destroyed the first coach. The second coach was torn from its [[bogie]]s and thrown up onto the platform where it demolished the refreshment room wall. There were very few people on that part of the station, although the staff in the refreshment room had to shelter themselves from falling [[masonry]].

A major fire broke out when the burst fuel tanks of the trains ignited, but Chester's [[fire brigade|fire station]] was nearby so friecrews arrived within a couple of minutes. They rescued a trapped postal worker and evacuated several passengers from an adjacent lightly loaded train before it was engulfed in flames.

Damage caused to the trains was severe, especially after petrol from two of the tank wagons began to boil and was forced out of the pressure relief valves, whereupon it ignited. The fire was not  extinguished until 00:20 the following day.

All trains involved were all written off and a section of the station roof was damaged and consequently removed.

==Causes==
An inquiry found that human error was the contributing factor to the crash. On partially-fitted freight trains the first few wagons had their [[vacuum brake]] lines connected to the locomotive. This meant that when the engine braked these wagons also applied their brakes helping to stop the train. In the case of this crash, the train had run as an unbraked freight train from {{rws|Helsby}} into Chester. This was because after leaving Ellesmere Port, the train had to stop at Helsby to reverse. The guard had forgotten to reconnect the vacuum pipe between locomotive and train when the locomotive coupled up to the opposite end of the train. As the extra brake power was not available on the falling gradient into Chester, the train was unable to stop as it entered the station. The driver had also omitted to carry out a brake test before departure from Helsby.

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6RjqlA92WU/ YouTube video showing the damage caused by the crash.]

==See also==
{{Portal bar|Cheshire|Trains}}
* [[Lists of rail accidents]]
* [[List of British rail accidents]]

==References==
* {{cite book | first=Stanley | last=Hall | year=1989 | title=Danger on the Line | publisher= Ian Allan}}
*{{cite book | last=Ministry of Transport | url=http://www.railwaysarchive.co.uk/documents/DoE_Chester1972.pdf |author2=Maj P M Olver | year=1974 | title=Railway accident : report on the Derailment and Consequent Fire that occurred on 8th May 1972 at Chester General Station in the London Midland Region British Railways | publisher= HMSO | isbn=0-11-550351-X  }}

{{1972 railway accidents}}
{{Railway accidents in the United Kingdom, 1900–1999|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Railway accidents and incidents in Cheshire]]
[[Category:Runaway train disasters]]
[[Category:History of Chester]]
[[Category:Railway accidents in 1972]]
[[Category:1972 in England]]
[[Category:20th century in Cheshire]]
[[Category:Train collisions in England]]
[[Category:Train and rapid transit fires]]