Holborn Tube Station - Incidents and Accidents

Incidents and Accidents

The Holborn rail crash was an accident on the London Underground that took place on the Central Line at Holborn on 9 July 1980, at about 13:28.

The 13:17 train from Liverpool Street to White City, standing in the westbound platform, was run into by the 12:49 Hainault to Ealing Broadway train which had been tripped by the emergency system outside the station but failed to stop in time to avoid collision.

The driver of the rear train sustained injuries and was helped from his cab by a passenger but no serious injuries were caused in the accident. Disruption of services occurred as it was necessary to cut the two cabs from the trains before they could be removed from the area.

An inquiry concluded that the accident was caused by the driver of the rear train failing to control his train.

On 8 December 1988, a 17-year-old Turkish student was found stabbed to death at the station.

On 21 October 1997, an 9-year-old boy was dragged to death by a train when a toggle on his anorak was trapped in the closing doors.