1994 Oldham train derailment

The Oldham train derailment was a train derailment on the East-West Mainline on the morning of February 19th 1994. It occured around 1,5km from Oldham, in a freight yard. The train involved was EX104, the fifth Bayrail high speed train delivered, operating a service from Beachport to Eastend. The accident occured in heavy fog. 48 people died in the accident and 213 were injured, 65 of which were severely injured.
== Events ==
EX104, operating train H783 was running a few minutes late as it was approaching Oldham. It had a scheduled arrival time of 08:40 in Oldham. The train had been cleared into track 3 of the station by the signaller. with a "proceed at 40km/h" aspect. However, the train driver misinterpreted the signal as a "proceed at 100km/h" aspect due to the fog. The train derailed at a switch shortly after passing the signal.
The first car was mostly undamaged, however the second car of the train hit a pole and was severely damaged. the third car hit the second car, compressing both. the fourth, fifth, and sixth cars were all mostly undamaged, as they detached from the rest of the train.
The first emergency call came at 08:46 from a worker in the rail yard, who ran to the nearest lineside telephone when he saw the train derail. the driver also called the signaller on the radio shortly afterwards.
=== Emergency response ===
Emergency services arrived at 08:50, initially, only 2 ambulances arrived at the scene of the accident, but once the scale of the derailment became clear, many more were dispatched.
By 09:10, there were 16 ambulances at the scene and 2 ambulance helicopters arrived from Beachport. The emergency response concluded at 14:00.
== Investigation ==
The official investigation into the crash was launched by Bayrail 4 days after the accident, and was published on July 11. The accident was deemed to be caused by the colorlight signals used, which were deemed to be unsuitable for speeds above 160km/h, as they do not provide enough warning for low speed aspects.
The accident report reccomended the development of a new signalling system more suitable for high speeds, and for high speed trains to be limited to 180km/h until such a system was developed.
This resulted in the development of the BRIC signalling system.