Newton (South Lanarkshire) rail accident

At 21.55, train 2P55, the 21:55 Newton-Glasgow Central Cathcart Circle service, a British Rail Class 303 unit driven by Reginald McEwan left the "down" platform at Newton.

Meanwhile, train 2J66, the 20:55 Balloch-Motherwell service, a Class 314 unit driven by David Scott was crossing from the fast West Coast Main Line tracks through a single-lead junction to enter the "up" platform.

One local ran to Newton to telephone the signaller on duty and had asked him to turn the overhead wires off as he had feared for the safety of everyone.

[5] The crash was attributed to the Cathcart Circle train passing a signal at danger and causing a collision at the single-lead junction, as at Bellgrove in Glasgow just over a year earlier.

Following the crash the junction was closed, with a special timetable in place for several months while the layout was revised to provide double track from the platforms towards Kirkhill.

Schematic of the trackwork of the Newton (South Lanarkshire) rail crash. The red line indicates the line that was removed to make a single lead junction. This line was replaced after the crash.