Seer Green and Jordans
Seer Green and Jordans is a railway station lies close to the village of Seer Green in Buckinghamshire and also serves the nearby village of Jordans.
The station was built almost a decade after the construction of the GWR/GCR joint line and opened on New Year's Day, 1915. The station was originally known as Beaconsfield Golf Links due to its close proximity to the golf club, but has since taken on its current name, as it now primarily serves local commuters rather than golfers.
The station was transferred from the Western Region of British Rail to the London Midland Region on 24 March 1974.
Most trains serving the station are those running between High Wycombe and London Marylebone, although other trains call at certain times, such as services for Birmingham Snow Hill, Bicester North, Banbury, or Aylesbury via Princes Risborough. For most of the day, during the week and on Saturdays, there are two trains per hour in each direction. In the past there have been non-stop London - Seer Green evening peak services, but none is timetabled currently.
Most services from this station are operated by Class 165 trains, although some peak and late night/early morning services are operated by Class 168 trains.
Seer Green Train Crash
In the winter of 1981, the weather in Southern England turned cold and there were frequent heavy falls of snow. On the Chiltern Main Line, the snow caused tree branches in the cutting at Seer Green to be weighed down and some of them were brushed by passing trains.
On 11 December, the driver of an empty train from Marylebone to Princes Risborough came across a fallen branch lying across the track. He telephoned the signalman at High Wycombe to tell him that he was going to clear the obstruction and would be delayed by a few minutes. Meanwhile at Gerrards Cross, behind the stationary train, the driver of the 07:31 from Marylebone to Banbury was being cautioned by the signalman about the overhanging branches.
The signalman then attempted to clear the starting signal for the train to proceed but the lever was locked. Unaware that the empty train had stopped, he looked at his signal box diagram and thought that the indications showed that the empty train was running towards Beaconsfield.
Assuming that the signal lever had frozen (when in fact it was electrically locked by the stationary train), he authorised the driver to pass the signal at danger, and the train set off into the still-falling snow. Glancing again at his diagram, he saw that the lights towards Beaconsfield were not in fact lit, and realised that the empty train was still in the section near Seer Green. He quickly went to the window and tried to attract the driver's attention by shouting, but nobody heard him.
The driver of the Banbury train drove too fast for the conditions and ran into the back of the empty train at about 30 mph. The front coach of the Banbury train partly telescoped underneath the rear coach of the empty train, and the driver and three passengers were killed. Five others were also injured.
