2 More Bodies Pulled From Train Wreckage

Emergency crews managed to recover two more bodies Wednesday from the charred wreckage of what may prove to be Britain’s worst postwar rail accident. Police said that scores of other passengers were still unaccounted for and feared dead.

The confirmed death toll from Tuesday’s collision of two commuter trains in central London stood at 28, with more than 150 people injured in the rush-hour crash.

Forty-two other people “were seen to get on the train by members of family or friends” and have not been heard from since, said Andy Trotter, deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police. Additionally, he said, there were reports of 100 more who “may have” gotten on one of the two trains.

“I fear the total number of fatalities will be much greater than it is now,” Trotter said.

It was unclear how many more bodies could be retrieved, however. Trotter said that one of the first-class coaches had been reduced to “ashes and debris.” That car alone seated about 50 passengers.

“It is a very difficult and grim task for the rescue workers,” Trotter said.

Meanwhile, rail officials said the disaster occurred when an outbound commuter train failed to stop at a red crossing signal.

The investigation will focus on the three-car Thames Trains outbound service from Paddington Station “following reports that it passed a signal at danger” and crossed into the path of an incoming express train from Cheltenham, according to an official rail statement.

The statement from Railtrack, which runs the rail lines, and the two train companies involved in the accident said the signals involved were “in full working order” and that the London-bound First Great Western Train express from Cheltenham “was authorized to proceed under green lights.”

But while the rail companies seemed to emphasize human error, the British media and union officials stressed that eight other incidents had been linked to the signal involved in Tuesday’s crash--Signal 109--including one in February 1998 when an express train from Heathrow Airport to Paddington Station nearly collided with a Bristol-bound train.

The general secretary of the train drivers union said his organization had asked that the signal be moved because drivers were having trouble seeing it, but that nothing had been done.

The rail companies’ statement said their investigation “will also examine the history of signal 109 including previous incidents where signals were passed at danger at this location.”

Tuesday’s crash came two years after another collision on the same stretch of railway at Southall, eight miles away, which left seven people dead and 150 injured.

Investigators combed through the wreckage of Tuesday’s crash for a missing “black box” from the Thames train that they hoped would shed light on the accident.

The trains reportedly crashed at a combined speed of about 150 mph and burst into flames. Several of the cars were demolished, and debris was thrown as far as 60 yards away.

Both train drivers were missing and presumed to be dead.

Two bodies were recovered from the mangled cars Wednesday before operations were suspended to allow officials to bring in a 100-ton crane to raise overturned rail cars and stabilize others leaning on their sides. Officials said some bodies could be buried beneath the burned coaches.

Mick Rix, general secretary of the train drivers union, said his national executive committee would poll members on a strike action unless the train companies responded to union demands for safety measures within seven days. The union is asking for the installation of an automatic train protection system, which among other things would prevent trains from running red signals.

The system was recommended by a commission investigating a December 1988 rail crash at Clapham Junction, in which 35 people were killed. But the government and train companies decided that the $1.6-billion system was too costly, and opted for a warning system that is being put into place.

Britain’s worst postwar train crash occurred in 1952, when two express trains collided in northwest London and a third train ran into the wreckage. In that crash, 112 people were killed and 340 were hurt.

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Collision on the Rails

Investigations continue into the cause of Tuesday’s train crash in London, possibly Britain’s worst postwar rail disaster. The train companies involved have speculated that the westbound train may have run a red signal.

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Source: Railtrack