At Ladbroke Grove, two miles out of Paddington, there were commuters on the Thames Trains service to Bedwyn and passengers coming in on the Great Western from Cheltenham, and crews at work on both. The outbound train passed a signal at danger and the two met almost head-on. Thirty-one people died, including both drivers, and 417 were hurt. Lord Cullen's inquiry followed, and with it the fitting of train protection and warning systems across the network, which was 1999 and should have come sooner.
Harold, TPWS is a pair of transmitter loops in the four-foot: one at the signal, one on the approach, and if the train's going too fast or passes the red, the brake goes in without the driver. Cullen also pressed for ATP on the Great Western, which had only been fitted in part by 1999.
The London hospitals took the injured within the hour that morning, and the worst burns went to two specialist units, one of them at Chelsea and Westminster. Nurses and ambulance crews worked through the day on that, and a lot of them had only heard about it on the radio before they were called in.