Connex

Hither Green incident Connex statement
_______________________________________________________________

date 12 March 2001
source Connex
type Press release

At 08.35 on Monday 12 March, on the London side of Hither Green Station, the
Connex South Eastern 08.08 service from Crayford to Cannon Street ran into
the 07.58 Connex South Eastern service from Sevenoaks to Cannon Street.

Initial investigations indicate that the oblique collision was caused by the
Connex driver of the Sevenoaks train passing a signal with a red aspect.
However, a further, more detailed, joint inquiry by Railtrack and Connex is
now taking place.

Commenting on the collision, Connex managing director Olivier Brousse said:

"Naturally we are very distressed that this incident has taken place.
Thankfully, there were no fatalities or major injuries but it was still a
very distressing experience for our passengers. In addition to the
passengers on the two trains involved, I would also like to apologise to all
other passengers who suffered significant disruption as a result of this
incident.

"It seems that our driver passed a signal at danger, but this is still to be
confirmed. However, we take every incident or potential incident very
seriously and investigate both the immediate cause and wider cause
thoroughly. Then, in conjunction with Railtrack we learn from the incident
and how it can be prevented from happening again."

Neither train was derailed, though both trains sustained minor damage. Nine
minor injuries were reported; eight people were treated for shock and one
for whiplash. Both trains were eight car Networkers, sliding door suburban
stock that came into service from 1993 onwards. Both trains have "Black
boxes" and data from the trains, in addition to that from the signalling
system, was downloaded for use in the investigation into the cause of the
incident.

Passengers on the Crayford train were detrained via the platform at Hither
Green. Passengers on the 07.58 which stopped beyond the platform were
detrained by 11.40 and escorted from the track via a safe route. Buses then
took passengers to Lewisham to complete their journey. All passengers were
detrained by 11.40.

Train services were severely disrupted as a result of this incident although
replacement buses were run between Hither Green and Lewisham and rail
tickets were accepted on local London Transport buses.

Railhub Archive ::: 2001-03-12 CON-001