The London Underground has an amazing safety record.  This is one of only a handful of serious accidents in its history.  It took place on a branch of the Northern Line that is now part of the Network Rail line from Drayton Park.  The accident was a huge shock to the people of London.  The rescue operation was lengthy and difficult.  For reasons which are still not clear, the driver failed to stop and crashed into the end of the tunnel at platform nine.  The larger than usual tunnel bore allowed the carriages to jack knife.  I was at school and remember that a documentary about the Bethnal Green Tube Shelter disaster was due to be shown on the television in the same week.  It was cancelled.  The responders from the London Fire Brigade, London Ambulance Service, City of London, Metropolitan and British Transport Police did an incredible job alongside staff from local hospitals and London Transport.

This part of Moorgate Station is dirty and poorly maintained and has changed little since it was refurbished after the accident and transferred to British Rail. It is hard not to think of the accident when standing on platform nine.  Peter Davis, the chair of the History Special Interest Group of the Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management has prepared a article on the crash.  Well worth a read.

We have a duty to remember the lessons of the past, and there were many that arose from this tragedy.

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