I Was In The Train Crash At Wembley Central In 1984

A Memory of Wembley.

On 11 October, 1984, a freight train was crossing from one line to another just south of Wembley Central station when my commuter train from Euston to Bletchley ran into the side of it and was deflected to one side, with the front half of the passenger train where I was sitting turning onto its side while part of the freight train was also derailed. The deflection of the trains meant that the force of the accident was gradual as we slid along side by side.  

Three passengers were killed and many injured. I was badly shocked and helped away by the Fire Brigade as a walking casualty - not bruised or broken remarkably but absolutely filthy from the mess of the accident and so shaken that I decided I could no longer be happy commuting by train. I took time off work but returned the following week making sure I no longer sat in the front coaches. I chose to commute on the "slow lines" !  This is a memory I will never be able to forget.

A month or so later I quit my city job to work locally close to my home in Oxhey. The accident was caused by the driver of my train passing through a red signal and cancelling the AWS warning without thinking, though a medical examination showed that he may have suffered transiently from some sort of lapse which led to his fatal mistake.