On August 1, 1980, the Buttevant Rail Disaster occurred at Buttevant Railway Station in County Cork, Ireland. A Dublin-Cork express train, carrying approximately 230 bank holiday passengers, was mistakenly diverted into a siding due to incorrectly set points. The locomotive remained upright, but several carriages jack-knifed, resulting in the deaths of 18 people and injuring over 70 others. This tragic accident, one of Ireland's worst rail disasters, led to significant public pressure for improved rail safety and the phasing out of wooden-bodied coaches.
