Selby rail crash
| Selby rail crash | |
|---|---|
A train at the site of the crash in 2018, traveling north on the East Coast Main Line underneath the M62 motorway. The car crashed down the embankment on the right of the image. | |
| Details | |
| Date | 28 February 2001 06:13 UTC |
| Location | Great Heck, Selby, North Yorkshire |
| Coordinates | 53°41′14″N 1°05′53″W / 53.68722°N 1.09806°W |
| Country | England |
| Line | East Coast Main Line |
| Operator | |
| Service |
|
| Cause | Obstruction on line |
| Statistics | |
| Trains | 2 |
| Vehicles | 1 |
| Deaths | 10 |
| Injured | 82 |
| List of UK rail accidents by year | |
The Selby rail crash (also known as the Great Heck rail crash) was a railway accident that occurred on 28 February 2001 near Great Heck, Selby, North Yorkshire when a passenger train collided with a car which had crashed down a motorway embankment onto the railway line. The passenger train then collided with an oncoming freight train. Ten people died, including the drivers of the two trains, and 82 were injured. It remains the worst rail disaster of the 21st century in the United Kingdom.
The driver of the car, Gary Hart, was convicted of ten counts of causing death by dangerous driving and sentenced to five years in prison after a jury found that he had fallen asleep while driving. Hart's insurers paid out £30 million in claims. The Health and Safety Executive investigated the accident, and made several recommendations, including research into the crashworthiness of rail vehicles. The Health and Safety Commission and Highways Agency created working groups to investigate the risks of road vehicle incursions onto railways. The Department for Transport issued a report containing guidance for assessing and mitigating the risks identified by the working groups.