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The Moorgate tube crash occurred on 28 February 1975 London Underground's Northern City Line; 43 people died and 74 were injured after a train failed to stop at the line's southern terminus, Moorgate station, and crashed into its end wall. It is considered the worst peacetime accident on the London Underground. No fault was found with the train, and the inquiry by Department of the Environment concluded that the accident was caused by the actions of Leslie Newson, the 56-year-old driver.

The crash forced the first carriage into the roof of the tunnel at the front and back, but the middle remained on the trackbed; the 52 ft coach was crushed to 20 ft. The second carriage was concertinaed at the front as it collided with the first, and the third rode over the rear of the second. The brakes were not applied and the dead man's handle was still depressed when the train crashed. It took 13 hours for emergency services to remove the injured from the wreckage, many of whom had to be cut free. Poor ventilation caused temperatures in the tunnel to rise to over 120 F. It took a further four days to extract the last body, that of Newson; his cab, normally 3 ft deep, had been crushed to 6 in.

The post-mortem on Newson showed no medical reason to explain the crash. A cause has never been established, and theories include suicide, that he may have been distracted, or that he was affected by conditions such as transient global amnesia or akinesis with mutism. Tests showed that Newson had a blood alcohol level of 80 mg/100 ml—the level at which one can be prosecuted for drink driving, though the alcohol may have been produced by the natural decomposition process over four days at a high temperature.

Following the crash, London Underground introduced a safety system that automatically stops a train when travelling too fast. This became known informally as Moorgate protection. Read more...