The quiet Essex town where the county's worst railway accident saw train 'somersault' into station

Witham Railway Station was the location for the disaster
-Credit: (Image: Essex Chronicle)


A quiet Essex town was once the scene for a train crash, which remains as the worst loss of life in a railway accident in Essex. Witham stands between two major cities in Essex, Chelmsford and Colchester, and has a dark past, which devastated a community over 100 years ago back when it was still a village.

At around 9.27am, on September 1, 1905, Witham Railway station became the centre of an oblivion, where a major tragedy struck. Heading to Cromer, a London Liverpool Street 14-carriage express train was passing through the station at incredible speed. It was then that the unthinkable happened.

Passengers were travelling to the Norfolk seaside town, Cromer, when the disaster occurred, and took the lives of a staff member, as well as a number of passengers on the train. Travelling at high speeds, the train derailed, and somersaulted into the station, with catastrophic consequences.

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Sadly, ten passengers were killed in the crash, as well as a luggage porter, making the incident the worst railway disaster in Essex history. Not only were ten people killed, 71 passengers on board were seriously injured in the terrifying ordeal.

An incredible, quick action from a member of staff at the time saved many more from the wreck. A signalman aptly named Ben Sainty had another train averted, stopping the single-train accident from becoming even worse. Ben was immortalised by the local community, who named a road after him in the town: Ben Sainty Court. The accident happened nearly 120 years ago, and signs of the accident remain today.

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