‘We had just lit a cigarette when there were two big bangs and the carriage was engulfed in flames’

It's been nearly 40 years since a fatal train crash rocked Greater Manchester. The rail tragedy happened in Eccles ^[1] when an express passenger train crashed into a freight train carrying oil tankers.

On the morning of December 4, 1984 ^[2], an eight coach intercity passenger train was travelling from Liverpool ^[3] to Scarborough. Just after 10.30am, having not long passed through Eccles Station, it ploughed into the back of a train carrying 15 oil tankers.

Newspapers, including the Manchester Evening News, reported the crash caused a 'tremendous explosion', destroying the first two coaches of the passenger train and sent a fireball into the air. Hundreds of people surrounding the scene between Eccles New Road, Weaste ^[4] and the M602 ^[5] were evacuated from homes, shops and offices.

Declared a major accident, an appeal went out for doctors, nurses or anyone with medical experience to help. Ambulances were diverted from all over Manchester to take any survivors to hospital.

But at the scene firefighters and emergency workers struggled to get close to the wreckage to search of survivors because of the intense heat. At least one of the oil tanks had exploded on impact leaving stunned residents thinking a bomb had gone off as the sound of the explosion ripped through their homes.

The Liverpool Echo reported that fire crews arrived to a 'scene of devastation'. Flames rose high into the sky as crews sprayed the red hot carriages with water to cool them down so they could look for survivors.

One passenger on the train was 25-year old building inspector, Daniel Hughes. He was travelling on the express train with his girlfriend, Marie Muldoon.

He said: "We were sitting in the second or third coach from the front when all of a sudden I was flung onto the table in front of us, and there were two big bangs then the train seemed to jerk along.

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His girlfriend added: "There were flames in the carriage and I was petrified. People were running to get to the other carriages and get out.

Firefighters tackling the blazing fires caused by the train crash next to the M602 in December 1984 (Image: Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS))

"The ticket collector was badly concussed and we saw other people with bad injuries. It was just incredible when it happened."

Mrs Marlene Haigh from St Helens was travelling with her baby daughter, Miranda, when the train crashed. "I got flung along the aisle and the baby got flung onto the seat in front. She had a lucky escape."

'Train horror' - front cover of the Manchester Evening News, December 4, 1984 (Image: Manchester Evening News | Newspapers.com)

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Barbara Skinner, 43, also from St Helens, said: "We had just lit a cigarette and were relaxing when there were two big bangs and the carriage was engulfed in flames. The flames were all around us and we couldn't get out of the door because of them. We had to go through the carriages to where people told us to jump out."

Percy Anchor, whose house faced the crash scene, gave the newspaper a terrifying account of what he witnessed. He said: "There was a big explosion, and I thought the house had blown up.

"The front coaches were just a mass of flames. The back ones were not touched, and people were jumping out and running for cover. About four of the front coaches were burning."

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One unsung hero, described as "an angel of mercy in jeans and a t-shirt", was at the scene within seconds tending to the injured. Nurse Christine Grimshaw who worked in the intensive care unit at Hope Hospital, lived in a flat adjacent to the rail line. She ran out of her home and climbed a wall to reach the embankment before crawling beneath the train to help survivors.

Smouldering carriages of the passenger train involved in the 1984 train crash in Eccles, next to the M602 (Image: Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS))

A fire brigade spokesman was quoted as saying the accident "could turn out to be the worst disaster this country has seen in a very long time." At least seven people were taken to Salford ^[11] Royal Hospital with shock and minor injuries after both Hope and Park hospitals became "swamped with casualties".

As a result of the devastating crash, two people including the driver of the passenger train, died. A third person succumbed to their injuries a month later.

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Despite three deaths and 68 people injured, it could have been much worse. When the trains collided, the rearmost oil tanker was thrown to the side but the force sent the next two into the air, with one crashing back down onto the passenger train. Escaping oil ignited, setting fire to the train's first two coaches.

Firefighters spraying foam onto the oil tankers strewn across the railway line in Eccles, December 1984 (Image: Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS))

Luckily the lead coach was empty or the death toll would likely have been much higher. Rescue efforts were also assisted by the location of the accident adjacent to the motorway, enabling speedy access for the emergency services.

In 2011 retiring firefighter, Graham Rothwell, spoke to the Salford Advertiser about the crash - the one incident that still stood out in his mind after 34 years in the service. Graham, of The Boundary, in Clifton, recalled the harrowing devastation and how his team battled to contain the blaze and rescue trapped passengers.

Greater Manchester Fire Service watch manager, Graham Rothwell, said memories of the 1984 crash still stuck with him after 34 years service (Image: Paul Heyes)

He said: "I will never forget that day. I still remember the screaming and the desperation from people trying to get out.

"One carriage was blazing and we had to work quickly. We had to deal with the fact the train had crashed with a freight train carrying something that could blow up at any moment. There was an explosion and it spread to a factory next to the M602."

In the aftermath, an inquiry into the accident were inconclusive. Signalling and track circuits had been affected by nearby maintenance, but the inspector was satisfied they were working correctly. However, they had not been fitted with the necessary warning system to alert the driver of his error.

The inquiry concluded the train's deceased driver had allowed his attention to wander and missed the Eccles signals, which were said to be a rare occurrence for them to be signalling danger. More safety work was undertaken, including signals fitted with AWS (warning system) as a result of the tragedy.

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References

^{^} Eccles (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
^{^} December 4, 1984 (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
^{^} Liverpool (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
^{^} Weaste (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
^{^} M602 (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
^{^} One of Manchester's worse rail disasters that saw train plummet into river below leaving 10 dead and 58 hurt (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
^{^} The horror Manchester air disaster which killed 55 holidaymakers and changed air travel forever (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
^{^} by clicking here (manchester.page.link)
^{^} clicking this link (chat.whatsapp.com)
^{^} Join our Greater Manchester history, memories and people Facebook group here. (www.facebook.com)
^{^} Salford (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
^{^} Love Greater Manchester's past? Sign up to our new nostalgia newsletter and never miss a thing. (data.reachplc.com)
^{^} comments section below (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)