Taunton sleeping car fire
| Taunton sleeping car fire | |
|---|---|
Taunton, Somerset | |
| Country | England |
| Line | Great Western Main Line |
| Cause | Obstructed electric heater |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 1 |
| Passengers | ~8 coaches |
| Deaths | 12 |
| Injured | 15 |
| List of UK rail accidents by year | |
In the early hours of 6 July 1978, a fire broke out in a
In response to the incident, British Rail adopted various fire safety measures on the newly introduced Mark 3 passenger carriages.
Background
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (June 2020) |
The fire started in a
The Class 47-hauled 22:30 sleeping car express from Penzance to Paddington on 5 July 1978 was scheduled to pick up two sleeping cars at Plymouth; this arrangement was so that passengers joining the train there could go to bed without having to wait for the main service to arrive at around midnight.[1]
The main store for
Events
The train arrived at Plymouth from Penzance at 23:50. It was coupled up to the Plymouth sleeping cars (which included W2437) and the ETH was turned on at 00:15. The train departed on time at 00:30 and made scheduled stops at
A major fire developed and the train was stopped at 02:41 near Silk Mill
A twelfth passenger, a Belgian national, died from pneumonia in August, having never regained consciousness.[2]
Consequences
In the immediate aftermath of the disaster David Penhaligon, the Liberal MP for Truro who regularly used the West Country sleeper stated in the House of Commons that "All the doors" on the train were "locked between carriages" and that all the external doors were locked except for the door where the attendant was. He also claimed that windows on the train which were supposed to be able to be opened rarely worked. These remarks echoed claims by passengers that locked doors had hampered escape efforts.[3] In the same debate another West Country MP Robin Maxwell-Hyslop, the Conservative MP for Tiverton pointed out that 111 years earlier an inspector reporting on "the Irish Mail crash" - which actually was in 1868 - had warned that locking doors at the end of sleeping cars could result in passenger deaths and asked "should we not have learned by now?"[3]
Initial reports showed that fire crews had difficulty during the rescue operation because doors on the train were locked. This was against the rules, but it was commonplace for attendants to lock the end doors of the pair of coaches that they were responsible for. This meant that attendants could greet passengers on arrival, and it helped to keep out intruders. Following this discovery, BR made it absolutely clear that all doors were to be left unlocked at all times.[4][page needed]
The Taunton fire occurred just as new
See also
References
- ^ ISBN 0-11-550513-X.
- ^ BBC News (6 July 1978). "On This Day: Eleven die in sleeper train inferno". Retrieved 28 July 2007.
- ^ a b "Sleeper carriage doors locked, says MP". The Glasgow Herald. 7 July 1978. p. 1. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
- ^ ISBN 0-7110-1704-2.
51°01′29″N 3°07′30″W / 51.0246°N 3.125°W
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‡ indicates railway accidents and incidents resulting in at least 20 fatalities § indicates the deadliest railway accident in British history 1815–1899   2000–present | |