A normal Friday morning commute on February 28, 1975, changed the lives of hundreds of people when a Tube train crashed into the station wall.
The worst-ever Tube accident killed 43 people, injured 74 and scarred rescuers who worked in the scorching heat of the tunnels. Its impact is felt to this day.
How the Moorgate Tube disaster unfolded
On the morning of the accident, the Northern Line train was carrying 300 passengers when it overran the Moorgate station.
The sand drags intended to slow trains down had nothing on the huge train travelling at more than 35mph – more than double the 15mph recommended speed on the station approach.
The train appears to have accelerated, feeding a debate that exists to this day over the driver’s responsibility.
The train’s speed meant that the first two coaches were crushed into half their length in the tunnel under the weight of the remaining four coaches.
To make matters worse for rescuers and survivors alike, the Moorgate Tube station is 111 feet underground, making it deeper than London Underground stations on average.
Survivors said there were no screams as the Tube carriages were crushed in a split second before they were trapped in the darkness.
The first rescuers faced horrifically smashed carriages with hundreds of survivors inside, but they could only squeeze through a small 2ft gap initially.
Steve Gleeson, a retired firefighter, said that none of the crews ‘wanted to leave.’
‘They all wanted to stay and help the casualties they were with. We had to all be ordered out by senior officers to allow fresh crews to come in,’ he told the London Fire Museum.
Heat in the tunnel rose to 33C, forcing firefighters to remove their helmets and tunics as teams raced against time to reach the injured.
A 19-year-old police officer Margaret Liles had been trapped in the crash and doctors had to amputate her foot to free her. Firefighter Frank Nice recalled how he placed himself between the tunnel wall and the train to support Margaret during the procedure.
‘The courage of those individuals will remain in my mind forever,’ he said.
What caused the Moorgate Tube crash?
For some reason, train driver Leslie Newson, 56, failed to stop. But the exact reason will never be discovered as he was among those killed, most likely instantly.
Theories over the driver’s suicide have persisted to this day as the train brakes were not applied and the dead man’s handle – a mechanism designed to stop the train if the driver is incapacitated – was still engaged.
Richard Jones, an author and historian, has written a book about the Moorgate disaster.
He criticised the theory that Newson had been drinking after post-mortem tests showed that his body contained some alcohol. However, it was later discovered during an inquest that the alcohol content may have been due to natural decomposition as his remains were in the wreckage for days before he could be retrieved.
Jones, who said he is one of the only people Newson’s family has spoken to, said his research showed that the driver may have suffered a concussion some months prior to the accident, which could have caused an ‘epileptic fit.’
‘He had overran a station, he had never done that before. It has all the hallmarks of an epileptic fit. His brain would have shut off,’ Jones argued.
Newson had overshot the platform twice in the week leading up to the accident. At the same time, he is said to have kept a rigorous logbook about his driving performance and any issues that needed attention.
Jones told Metro that the driver ‘didn’t touch a drop, he was teetotal.’
A large sum of money was found on Newson, which is thought to have been to buy his daughter a car.
‘There were so many different things that said he did not commit suicide,’ Jones said.
However, he admitted that ‘it was the driver’s fault.’
‘No matter what happened, it was the driver who caused it – the brakes didn’t fail, it wasn’t the tracks, everything was fine with the train. It was literally the driver, but the question is what happened to the driver.’
He said that the ‘main thing is, this was a tragic accident. Nobody could have predicted it, nobody could have stopped it.’
The Tube’s worst peacetime accident led to changes being made on the London Underground. A new, 10mph speed limit for all trains approaching stations was introduced instead of the previous 15mph limit.
The ‘Moorgate Protection’ system was introduced three years later so that brakes would be automatically applied if the driver failed to do so.
A memorial was eventually erected in 2013 on Finsbury Square to honour the victims, survivors and rescue workers of the Moorgate disaster after campaigning led by Jones.
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