TERRORIST ATTACKS ON THE LONDON UNDERGROUND

by Nick Cooper © 2006-2017

02/01/1885
A bomb explodes on a Metropolitan line train at Gower Street (now Euston Square) station.

15/05/1913
Bomb discovered at Westbourne Park station (Hammersmith & City), probably the work of suffragettes.

03/02/1939
Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombs explode in the left luggage offices at Tottenham Court Road (Central/Northern) and Leicester Square (Northern/Piccadilly) stations. No injuries. 23 men tried for offences in connection with the wider bombing campaign these incidents are part of; two are aquitted, and the remaining receive sentences ranging from 18 months to 17 years

23/08/1973
Bomb discovered in a carrier bag in the Baker Street station (Bakerloo/Circle/Hammersmith & City/Metropolitan) ticket hall, and safely defused.

30/08/1973
Primed bomb found by member of LU staff on an overbridge at Baker Street station, and safely defused.

26/12/1973
Bomb explodes in a telephone kiosk in the booking hall at Sloane Square station (Circle/District). No injuries.

15/03/1976
IRA bomb prematurely explodes on a Hammersmith & City line train at West Ham station (District/H&C). The bomber attempts to flee through the cab, and is chased by driver Julius Stephen, who is shot and killed. The murderer is never caught.

16/03/1976
IRA bomb explodes on an empty train at Wood Green station (Piccadilly), as it was preparing to reverse through the siding east of the station, causing minor injuries to one person. Had it exploded afterwards and more than three stations later, the train would have been packed with Arsenal football fans leaving a match. Three men subsequently sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for the crime.

29/08/1991
Three incendiary devices found hidden under at train at Hammersmith station (Circle/Dictrict/Piccadilly/H&C).

23/12/1991
IRA bomb explodes on a train at Harrow-on-the-Hill station (Metropolitan). No injuries. A small device also explodes on a train at Neasden depot.

30/01/1992
IRA incendiary device discovered under seat on a train at Elephant & Castle (Bakerloo/Northern) station.

03/02/1992
Incendiary device left on a train at Neasden (Jubilee), but fails to ignite.

07/02/1992
IRA incendiary device ignites on a train at Barking (District/Hammersmith & City) station.

07/07/2005
Islamist suicide bombers simultaneously detonate explosive devices on three Underground trains, while a fourth targets a double-decker bus at . Two attacks are on Circle line trains at 08:50 (all times British Summer Time), one travelling anti-clockwise leaving Edgware Road, the other travelling clockwise towards Aldgate. The third Underground explosion is on a southbound Piccadilly line train, just after leaving King's Cross for Russell Square at 08:52. The bus - full partly as a result of passengers displaced by the shut-down Underground network - explodes in Tavistock Square much later, at 09:47. Six civilians die as a result of the blast at Edgware Road, seven at Aldgate, 25 at King's Cross, and 12 on the bus; one person injured at King's Cross and one injured on the bus die in hospital eight days later. All four terrorists also die.

21/07/2005
Islamist suicide bombers unsuccessfully attempt to explosive detonate devices on trains at Shepherd's Bush (Hammersmith & City) at 12:25, Oval (Northern) at 12:35, and a Victoria line train at Warren Street (Northern/Victoria) at 12:40, while a fourth targets a double-decker bus in Hackney at 13:06 (all times BST). In all cases the main explosive charge fails to detonate and the terrorists escape. No civilian injuries.

22/07/2005
Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes shot dead at Stockwell (Northern/Victoria) line station by police officers after being mis-identified as a suspect in the previous day's attacks.

15/09/2017
A bomb partially exploded on an eastbound District line train at Parsons Green station, injuring thirty people.

REFERENCES/PUBLISHED SOURCES:

London Underground Stations (David Leboff, 1994, Ian Allen Ltd., ISBN 0-7110-2226-7)

REFERENCES/DOCUMENTS HELD AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, KEW, RICHMOND, SURREY [ www.nationalarchives.gov.uk]

{MEPO 3/1267} Explosion at Leicester Square Underground Station 1938-1939.

REFERENCES/INTERNET RESOURCES

http://www.btp.police/

PAGE HISTORY:
05/06/06	First upload
22/10/17	Hosting transfer, update & amendments