The 24 biggest disasters and tragedies the London Underground has ever seen (2024)

Just like any train network anywhere in the world, the London Underground is sometimes hit by disaster and tragedy.

The Tube network is an incredible gift that most of us probably don't appreciate, but there's no doubting how much we need it when it carries one billion passengers a year.

There is one fatal accident for every 300 million journeys made. Of these, five passenger deaths have happened because of train operation in nearly 80 years, every since the London Passenger Transport Board was established.

Any other fatalities have been caused by wartime and terrorist bombings as well as station fires.

1. Charing Cross - 1938

Not one but two accident happened near Charing Cross station, which is where Embankment now is, in the same year. On March 10 two Northern Line trains crashed between Waterloo and the station, in which 12 people suffered minor injuries. In the May 17 crash, two District Line trains collided and six people were killed.

2. Bounds Green - 1940

It was in the heart of the War, on October 13 1940, that a German bomb fell at Bounds Green station and 16 people were killed.

3. Balham - 1940

A bomb fell in the road above the station on October 14, the blast big enough to penetrate into the tunnel nine metres below.

The water mains and sewage pipes broke, causing flooding, and a total of 68 people died, including 64 shelterers and four railway staff.

4. Bank - 1941

On January 11, in a similar tragedy, 56 people were killed when a bomb hit the Central Line ticket hall of Bank station and the road collapsed into the station.

5. Bethnal Green - 1943

Again in the war, a huge 173 people died when a crowd of people rushed into the station thinking they had heard bombing. A woman tripped causing many other people to fall and around 300 people were crushed on the stairwell.

6. Northwood crash - 1945

On December 31 in 1945, two trains crashed on the Metropolitan line because of fog.

The driver of the second train had passed a danger signal under the Stop and Proceed rule but didn't see the preceding train soon enough to stop.

The fire was started by electrical arching and, unfortunately, three people were killed.

7. Edgware buffer stop collision - 1946

Not long after, on July 27 1946, a Northern Line train hit buffers at Edgware. No passengers were killed. The driver died, but it was proved he suffered a heart attack before the collision.

8. Stratford crash - 1953

In a horrific turn of events, on April 8, two Central Line trains crashed in a tunnel during disruption caused by signal failure. 12 people lost their lives.

9. Holland Park train fire - 1958

A fire occurred on the Central Line due to electrical short circuits in the trains causing arcing. The carriages had to be evacuated and both passengers and crew members suffered from smoke inhalation. Sadly one passenger died.

10. Redbridge train fire - 1960

In a very similar but not quite so severe train fire two years later, this time in East London, no one died but people did suffer after inhaling smoke.

11. Neasden crash - 1968

The crash happened in the North West London area when a ballast train passed three signals at danger and collided with the back of a Bakerloo Line passenger train in the platform. The driver of the ballast train died before he could be cut out. No one else lost their lives, but an inspector and the train's guard were rushed to hospital.

12. Moorgate collision - 1975

On February 28 1975 a complete tragedy hit the London Underground which ended in 43 deaths.

A southbound Northern City Line train crashed into the tunnel end beyond the platform at Moorgate station in the City. It was the greatest loss of life on the Underground in peacetime.

The driver was on of those who died so the cause of the accident was never fully determined and an accidental death verdict was recorded at the official inquest.

13. Oxford Circus fire - 1984

In another train fire, flames started raging inside the station at 9.50pm on November 23 and wasn't extinguished until 3am the next day. 14 people suffered smoke inhalation but luckily no one died. It is thought it was caused by a smoker's materials being pushed through a ventilation grille into the materials store, which caught alight.

14. Kilburn crash - 1984

On December 11 a northbound Metropolitan line train passed a signal at danger when it was foggy. The driver reset the controls and moved forward but was killed when the train crashed with a train stopped in front.

15. King's Cross fire - 1987

A huge fire broke out in King's Cross St Pancras station on November 18 in which 31 people died from the toxic fumes and the extreme heat. It was caused by a discarded match or cigarette igniting debris and grease beneath the wooden escalators. The incident caused the widely ignored smoking ban to be more rigorously enforced and eventually the wooden escalators were replaced.

16. Gunnersbury Triangle - 1999

On April 24 a District Line train derailed soon after leaving Gunnersbury on its was to Richmond, specifically at the Gunnersbury Triangle junction points where the line diverged from the railtrack route of the North London Line. The trailing car derailed and ended up strewn across the track. Luckily no one was seriously hurt.

17. Chancery Lane - 2003

A Central Line train derailed on January 25 at Chancery Lane and 32 passengers were injured after a motor became detached from the train. It meant the entire line and the Waterloo & City line were closed for around three months while the cause of the failure was determined and rectified, as both lines used 1992 stock trains.

18. Hammersmith derailment - 2003

In the same year, on October 17, the last carriage of a six-car eastbound Piccadilly line train came off the raise east of Hammersmith station due to a broken rail but luckily none of the 70 passengers were actually hurt.

19. Camden Town derailment - 2003

Just two days later, on October 19, the last carriage of a Northern Line train derailed as it approached Camden Town station. Seven passengers were injured, with six being minor and one being a broken femur.

20. White City derailment - 2004

Then on May 11 the following year, the leading bogie of a the seventh car of a Central Line train came off the tracks on the approach to White City, but once again no one on board was injured fortunately.

21. 7 July 2005 London bombings

Often referred to as the 7/7 bombings, this tragedy was one that shook the nation. A series of coordinated terrorist attacks on London's public transport, 56 people died, including the four bombers who carried out the attacks. A further 784 people were injured and the attacks affected London Underground trains as well as a London bus.

22. Mile End derailment - 2007

On July 5 two cars of a westbound Central Line train derailed at 65km/h between Bethnal Green and Mile End stations. 520 passengers were trapped underground for two hours until they were escorted from the derailed train by forming lines and following each other along the tracks all the way to Mile End station.

8 people needed hospital treatment and a further 13 were treated at the scene for minor injuries. Most of the injuries were sustained on the walk to the station.

23. Runaway train - 2010

Early in the morning of August 13 a broken down track machine became uncoupled from the locomotive towing it so it rolled southwards from Archway station. The runaway train passed through loads of stops until it reached Warren Street station where a hill caused it to finally stop.

Then on February 28 (2013), the London Underground, Tube Lines and German company Schweerbau were each fined £100,000 at the Old Bailey for Health and Safety breaches.

24. Passenger dragged at Holborn station - 2014

In the most recent recording of tragedy on the London Underground, on February 3, a passenger had to be rushed to hospital after being dragged along the platform by a departing Piccadilly line train after her scarf got caught in a closing Tube door.