Description of Ladbroke Grove Rail Crash The Ladbroke Grove rail crash is termed as one the worst rail accidents that have ever occurred in Britain (Kletz. 2002). The accident occurred on the 5th of March in 1999 at the Ladbroke Grove. On this day, 5th of March 1999, at exactly 08:06 British Summer Time, a Thames Trains service departed from Paddington station, platform nine and veered off to Bedwyn railway station in Wiltshire. The Thames Train (whose headcode was 1K20) was the type of a 3-car turbo class fitted with 165 diesel unit. The driver of this train was Michael Hodder (Kletz. 2002). The distance between Paddington station and Ladbroke grove junction is about two miles west of the point of departure. Between the junction and the station there are about six lines (bi-directional) which can be used to run into or out of the station. In addition to the bi-directional, there are series of crossovers to enable trains be routed from one route to the next. At the junction itself, Ladbroke Junction, there existed interconnections between the lines. Stretching to the West of this junction, were four lines on …show more content…
He had very little experience with regard to coach driving. It is partly his fault to have accepted a task he was less prepared to handle but largely the firm’s mistake to have entrusted him to transport safely all on board without any support. As a preventative measure Michael needed an assistant or be given adequate orientation on the route before being left to work on his own. Otherwise such a task ought to have been given an experienced driver who would have known what to in order to avoid the accident. An experienced driver could have known that the area around SN 109 had caused serious threats before and thus take the signs seriously as preventive actions to avert the imminent crash. This particular accident could have been avoided if the coach had an experienced