Ballymacarrett rail crash
| Date | 10 January 1945 |
|---|---|
| Time | 7:50am |
| Location | Ballymacarrett |
| Coordinates | 54°36′12″N 5°53′34″W / 54.6033395°N 5.892709°WCoordinates: 54°36′12″N 5°53′34″W / 54.6033395°N 5.892709°W |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| Rail line | Belfast to Bangor Line |
| Operator | Belfast and County Down Railway |
| Type of incident | Collision |
| Cause | Excessive speed; driver error; unsafe operating rules; possibly Ding-ding, and away |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 2 |
| Passengers | Approx. 800 |
| Deaths | 22 |
| Injuries | 27 |
The Ballymacarrett rail crash occurred on 10 January 1945 at 7:50am in the Ballymacarrett area of Belfast, County Down, Northern Ireland on the Belfast to Bangor Line of the Belfast and County Down Railway, when a train led by a heavy autotrain driving trailer ran into the back of a stopped passenger train consisting of lightweight wooden coaches. 22 died with 27 injured. It was the worst crash in Northern Ireland since 1889. The cause was found to be carelessness of the driver of the autotrain (also called a railmotor) who was running too fast for conditions. Fog, unsafe railway rules, and possible distraction from passengers all may have contributed to the accident. Old lightweight rolling stock contributed to the great number of injuries and deaths. The accident led to the demise of the railway which was nationalised three years later.
The Belfast and County Down Railway operated the very busy line from Belfast to Bangor. The heyday of the railway was in the late 1800s. By the end of the First World War, the railway was facing competition from buses and private vehicles and was facing economic pressures. In the 1920s some economy measures were put in place such as replacing manned signal boxes with automatic signals. In the 1930s there was an economic depression which put the company under even greater financial pressure. By the end of the Second World War, the pressures were even worse.
When this railway implemented the automatic signals on this line, they also introduced a unique "Stop and Proceed" rule. This allowed the driver of a train to proceed cautiously into an occupied block after waiting two minutes and sounding the whistle, but without communicating with a signalman.
There were two trains involved. The first was the 7:10 am from Bangor to Belfast. This was a traditional passenger train consisting of 13 six-wheeled coaches, pulled by 4-6-4 steam locomotive Number 25. The coaches were of an old design with steel and oak undercarriages and light wood coachwork. The train had a seating capacity of 724 and was carrying about 600 passengers. The guard's van was the ninth coach on the train. This had side lights, but the rear coach of the train had only a single red light.
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