Just to add to my safety within the railway thread, It isn't all about safety within stations, it is also about safety within trains and on the tracks.

I watched a programme this morning which investigated the Ladbroke Grove Rail Crash (Also known as the Paddington Rail Disaster) and although it was very interesting, it was also very hard to watch and if I'm honest it made me quite emotional seeing how the 31 people that lost their lives spent there last few minutes.

The Paddington Rail Disaster took place on 5 October 1999 at approximately 08:08am. The crash involved a Thames Rail 3 Car Class 165 Turbo Diesel Unit and a First Great Western High Speed Train 'HST'.

As the outbound Thames Train Class 165 departed London Paddington, it made it's way into the Down Main Line at Ladbroke Grove. The train should have been held at a red signal, the signal was red, but the driver acknowledged the Signal warning and continued, however, as the train passed the signal, it accelerated. This bought the train to under 600 metres onto the Up Main Line. At 8:09, when the 165 was entering the Up Main Line, it collided head on with a First Great Western Class 43 High Speed Train at the combined speed of around 127/130mph.

The driver of the HST, Brian Cooper was killed as the Power Car of the HST was thrown off the tracks. The entire first car of the Class 165 was destroyed. The diesel fuel tank was thrown out of the power car and was dispersed into the first carrage, causing two huge fireballs. This went on to cause a serious of separate fires throughout the train. Coach H at the front of the HST was completely burnt out.

Thirty-One people were killed in the disaster, including both drivers. This included 24 people on the Turbo train and 6 people on the HST. 227 people were admitted to hospital and 296 people were treated for minor injuries on the site of the crash.

The immediate cause of the crash was identified as the Turbo train passing signal SN109 at danger. Michael Hodder, the driver of the Class 165 was inexperienced having only qualified as a driver two weeks before his accident. However, signal SN109 is known for it's problems as it had been passed at danger 8 times in 6 years previously. The low sunlight at 8am also made the light appear to be yellow due to the violent reflection.

On 5 April 2004, Thames Trains was fined a record £2 million for violations of health and safety law in connection with this accident. It was also ordered to pay £75,000 in costs. On 31 October 2006, Network Rail (the successor body to Railtrack, formed in the wake of a subsequent train crash at Hatfield) pleaded guilty to charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 in relation to the accident. It received a fine of £4 million on 30 March 2007, and was ordered to pay £225,000 in costs. Signal SN109 was brought back into service in February 2006. It and many other signals in the Paddington area are now single-lens type signals. A memorial garden has been set up, partially overlooking the crash site and accessible from the adjacent Sainsburys supermarket car park.

Power car 43011 sustained heavy damage in the crash and was subsequently written off, being officially withdrawn in November. After the completion of the inquiry of the incident it was cut up by Sims Metals in Crewe, Cheshire in June 2002. Excluding one of the prototypes, it is one of the only three class 43 (HST) locomotives (power cars) to be scrapped. The Turbo train was also written off in the accident. While the front two carriages were scrapped, the rear carriage was undamaged and is now a spare carriage.