Date: 07/01/2018

A memorial is being unveiled for the victims of a rail crash 50 years ago. On 6 January 1968, 11 people were killed when an express train hit a lorry carrying an electrical transformer at a level crossing in Hixon, Staffordshire. It killed eight passengers and three rail workers and left 27 people seriously injured. Residents of the village have now raised funds for a memorial which will be dedicated in the village churchyard. As a result of the accident, safety measures were introduced to help save lives in future.

External links

The train crash that changed UK railways

BBC News

Eleven people were killed when a train hit a low-loader transporter at a level crossing 50 years ago.

Related images

A Pendolino on a Manchester to Euston service passes the site of Hixon Halt (closed 1947) and its infamous level crossing. In 1968 a Euston bound express hauled by AL1 E3009 smashed into a 120 ton transformer on a low loader on the automatic half barrier crossing and eleven people were killed. The subsequent public enquiry resulted in a number of recommendations to improve safety at these crossings. A bridge was eventually built at Hixon in 2002 but it is still available as an engineers' access point.
Location: Hixon
Company: North Staffordshire Railway
25/05/2012 Mark Bartlett