The 11:36 pm empty coaching stock train from Stoke-on-Trent to Birmingham Soho TMD ran into the rear of the 10:18 pm express passenger train from Manchester Piccadilly to Penzance, which was standing in platform 4 at Stafford station.
[1] The driver of the empty train, who was the only fatality, was considered not to have kept a good lookout.
This was possibly compounded by excessive working hours and by the alcohol that was subsequently found in his bloodstream.
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