Survivors and families of the victims of the Paddington rail disaster today marked the 20th anniversary of the tragedy as concerns were raised about preventing similar disasters.
On October 5, 1999, two trains collided at high speed close to Paddington station shortly after 8.10am, killing 31 people as a further 227 people were taken to hospital.
Families and survivors as well as first responders observed a minute of silence at a memorial close to the crash site in Ladbroke Grove, west London, and trains were halted.
Representatives of the London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service, as well as Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, laid wreaths.
Families and survivors as well as first responders observed a minute of silence at a memorial (pictured) close to the crash site in Ladbroke Grove, west London, and trains were halted
Friends and relatives in the memorial garden (pictured) overlooking the railway line at Ladbroke Grove on the 20th anniversary of the Paddington rail disaster where a total of 31 people died when two trains collided almost head-on
Representatives of the London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service, as well as Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick (pictured), laid wreaths
A series of inquiries found the crash was caused by a Thames Trains service travelling from Paddington going through a red signal (pictured, friends and relatives of the victims today laid wreathes at a memorial to those who died)
Bishop of Kensington Graham Tomlin (pictured) conducting a service at the memorial garden. Many of those attending the memorial wore small green Grenfell remembrance badges
On October 5, 1999, two trains collided at high speed close to Paddington station shortly after 8.10am, killing 31 people as a further 227 people were taken to hospital
A series of inquiries found the crash was caused by a Thames Trains service travelling from Paddington going through a red signal.
Pat Mason, a councillor in the Kensington and Chelsea borough since 1991, said that lessons had been learned but emphasised the parallels with the Grenfell Tower fire, which occurred just over a mile away from the scene of the crash.
Many of those attending the memorial wore small green Grenfell remembrance badges.
Mr Mason said: ‘I just wish that the authorities and the Government would fix the problems that cause these disasters before they happen, like what will happen with Grenfell.
‘They knew these signals were deficient, they knew what the problems were on the lines, the rail unions were talking about them for years.
‘They didn’t listen, another thing that happened at Grenfell.
‘They waited until 31 people died and burned to death in this crash. I wish we didn’t have to come to these memorials because it means we failed.
‘We failed with the Ladbroke Grove train crash, we failed with Grenfell, we failed with the King’s Cross fire.
‘They learned their lessons, but 31 people died in the process and 300 more were injured and maybe some of them are still suffering, and they’re here 20 years later.’
According to statistics from the Office of Rail and Road, there were 304 signals passed at danger (SPADs) the financial year 2018-2019, the highest number since 2007-2008.
This number has fallen from 593 between 1999 and 2000 and most of these incidents were recorded as being of ‘no significant risk’ with only a very small number of signals passed identified as ‘potentially severe’.
After the collision two decades ago, large fires broke out on the two trains and a significant effort was required to rescue those trapped in the wreckage, which later took eight days to clear (pictured, floral tributes left today for those who died)
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick lays a floral tribute in the memorial garden overlooking the railway line at Ladbroke Grove on the 20th anniversary of the Paddington rail disaster
Floral tributes are laid at the memorial garden overlooking the railway line at Ladbroke Grove, Paddington. Survivor Jonathan Duckworth, chairman of the Paddington Survivors Group, stressed the need for standards to be maintained
Many of those attending the memorial wore small green Grenfell remembrance badges (pictured, floral tributes are left at the memorial garden overlooking the railway line at Ladbroke Grove, Paddington today)
Survivor Jonathan Duckworth, chairman of the Paddington Survivors Group, stressed the need for standards to be maintained.
The 61-year-old said: ‘There is no doubt that the railways are significantly safer than they were 20 years ago, it was a dreadful time for the industry.
‘It is really important to remember what happened 20 years ago to reinforce that the changes that have happened since then have been fantastic and must not slip because if they slip more people will die and more people’s lives will be completely transformed.’
HM Chief Inspector of Railways Ian Prosser also warned against complacency.
He said: ‘It is very important that we remain vigilant and therefore don’t become complacent.
‘The railway now is busier than it has ever been.
‘It’s important we don’t lose sight about what’s happened.’
What is the Paddington rail disaster? The tragic high speed collision in 1999 that cost 31 lives
On October 5, 1999, two trains collided at high speed close to Paddington station shortly after 8.10am, killing 31 people as a further 227 people were taken to hospital.
The Thames Trains driver, Michael Hodder, 31, and the First Great Western (FGW) driver, Brian Cooper, 52, were among those killed as the collision led to a fireball in which coach H was burnt out.
Rescue workers surround the wreckage of two trains which lie on rails in west London after a crash near Paddington Station on October 5, 1999
As well as the fatalities, more than 220 other people were injured, including Paddington Survivors Group chairman Jonathan Duckworth, now 61, from Stroud in Gloucestershire.
Travelling on the FGW train, Mr Duckworth said he was left ‘battered and bruised’ after being thrown around the carriage during the crash, and later he was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The subsequent inquiry into the disaster revealed that the Thames service travelling from Paddington to Bedwyn in Wiltshire had gone through a red signal before crashing into the London-bound high-speed FGW train which had left Cheltenham Spa in Gloucestershire at 6.03am.
The newly-qualified Thames driver, for reasons we will never know for he was one of those to perish in the crash, ignored warning horns blaring in his cab after running through two yellow signals, then a red, before impact.
After the collision two decades ago, large fires broke out on the two trains and a significant effort was required to rescue those trapped in the wreckage, which later took eight days to clear.
Brett Loft, a firefighter who was based in North Kensington at the time of the disaster, said: ‘It’s one of the biggest incidents we’ve attended on the railway in London, probably ever.
‘It was obviously a very traumatic day for everyone involved, we did all we could at the time.
‘I came on later in the incident to take over from those who got there in the beginning and they wouldn’t leave until they had made sure they had rescued everyone that could be rescued.
‘The main memory I have from it was people’s mobile phones ringing and obviously no-one there to pick them up, we didn’t know if they had been taken to hospital or just misplaced their phone.
‘It took a good few months to get over what we had seen and done on that day and I just can’t believe it was 20 years ago.’
Stressing that lessons had been learnt, the Government’s rail minister said safety is ‘hardwired into the DNA’ of the country’s network on the 20th anniversary of the rail crash.
Chris Heaton-Harris said the disaster was ‘one of the most tragic rail accidents in recent times’.
He offered the Government’s ‘heartfelt sympathies’ to those affected by the crash, which he said had ‘fundamentally changed my view on how the railways work’.
‘If you don’t learn from these disasters then you just have them again and again and again,’ Mr Heaton-Harris said.
‘Our thoughts have to be with those who suffered injuries and the bereaved families as we approach the anniversary.’
The minister argued that the incident and other crashes had lead to ‘positive’ safety developments.
This included the creation of the Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) in 2003, and the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) in 2005.
‘They were fundamental game changers in the way we review safety on our network,’ Mr Heaton-Harris said.
The Tory MP recalled learning of the Paddington disaster and the earlier Clapham Junction crash in 1988, in which 35 people were killed.
He said: ‘It was one of those moments where you knew someone who was on or you knew someone who knew someone who was on the train affected, or one of the people who was there to pick up the pieces.’
‘I can only remember the TV footage afterwards… which was unbelievably shocking. I don’t think I’d ever seen anything quite like that,’ he added.
‘I was living in south-west London at the time so the fact that these were London accidents brought it way closer to home.’
Mr Heaton-Harris said it was important to remember such rail crashes for the bereaved families and to ensure ‘we don’t have tragedies like these again’.
The minister highlighted that in 2018-19 there were almost 1.8 billion passenger journeys made on the country’s rail network, with 1.4 fatalities per billion train kilometres recorded.
By comparison, in the same period, Spain recorded 89.2 fatalities per billion train kilometres recorded, Germany 11.4, France 7.2, with the overall EU average being 24.2.
The Government’s rail minister, Chris Heaton-Harris (pictured), said the disaster was ‘one of the most tragic rail accidents in recent times’
According to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), there were 17 passenger fatalities on the railway in 2018-19, up from nine in 2017-18, and the highest number for the last 10 years.
Thirteen of the passenger fatalities occurred on the mainline and four on the London Underground, with none being the result of a train accident.
The ORR has identified a ‘worrying rise’ in the number of Signals Passed at Danger (SPADs) given a ‘potentially severe’ ranking, from 10 in 2017-18 to 16 in 2018-19.
It said the figures were low and it is too early to know if the rise is significant, but emphasised that SPADs would be a priority for ORR inspections in 2019-20.
RSSB research indicates that more trains on the network and declining punctuality levels mean drivers are seeing more red signals, which increases the opportunity for SPADs.
Mr Heaton-Harris acknowledged that there were still ‘plenty of lessons to learn’ and the need to ‘maintain vigilance’.
He pointed to the death of two rail workers killed by a train while carrying out engineering work for Network Rail on the line near Port Talbot, South Wales, in July.
An interim report by Network Rail said there was no official lookout in place to give warning of oncoming trains on the morning the two men died.
Mr Heaton-Harris said the incident ‘should absolutely not have happened’, adding: ‘We need to learn from every single incident and ensure that they don’t happen again.’
Asked what the Government was doing to improve safety, he highlighted plans to introduce new safer rolling stock and the ongoing ‘root and branch’ rail network review lead by Keith Williams, former chief executive of British Airways.
‘It is the most significant change in the rail sector in 25 years and its going to lead to a white paper and legislation and a different way of running the railways,’ Mr Heaton-Harris said.
The review is due publish its findings and recommendations in the autumn this year.
Reflecting the impact of past rail crashes Mr Heaton-Harris said: ‘We do have, because safety is now almost fundamentally hardwired into the DNA of everybody connected with the railways, a much safer rail network.’
He added: ‘We have learnt from them and it does mean that we have one of the highest standards of safety when it comes to railways across Europe, if not the world, for passengers, workers and the public.’