Remembering the St John’s Rail Disaster, Lewisham : The Human Cost of a Catastrophe

On Wednesday 4 December 1957, the 4.56pm steam express for Ramsgate left London’s Cannon Street over an hour late, due to thick fog. The driver at the controls of the locomotive knew the route like the back of his hand, yet, somehow, the express passed two caution signals at speed between New Cross and St John’s, ploughing at 30mph into the rear of a stationary electric train packed with 1,500 passengers. The catastrophic collision at St John’s, Lewisham, was a horrifying disaster, the third worst in British railway history. Ninety people died and over 200 were injured.

This new study by Tony Redding presents a detailed analysis of the terrible consequences for the families caught up in the tragedy. The narrative, built on painstaking research and including many interviews with eyewitnesses and families, shows how the human cost of this disaster spread far beyond the direct victims. In some cases, its malign influence is still alive today.