British railways and the January floods
HIGH tides and severe gales are by no means uncommon on the East Coast of England, and in the Thames Estuary, but on the night of January 31, 1953 the two acted in concert to such an extent that the sea rose several feet higher than was predicted, with the gale whipping up wave action. Coastal defences were breached at many places from the Humber right round to the outskirts of London, and the inundation of low-lying lands caused damage on a scale unequalled within living memory. The Eastern and Southern Regions of British Railways suffered severely, and train services on several lines had to be suspended.
On the Lincolnshire side of the Humber, the Pier station at New Holland was put out of action when the ferry boat plying to and from Hull broke loose from its moorings. The ship’s funnel wrecked a signal gantry, and the pier roadway and the pontoon buffers were damaged. Trains were terminated at New Holland Town until 1.30pm on February 1, when the service to the pier was restored with hand signalling. In the Immingham district, the railway to Coxhill was flooded at Killingholme, and damaged to such an extent that it could not be used until February 6. Immingham Dock station was put out of action by water sweeping between the platforms, but was reopened two days later. The water supply of the locomotive shed was contaminated with salt. The electric railway from Grimsby
