List of rail accidents

Notable historic train accidents:

Table of contents 1 1830s 2 1850s 3 1860s 4 1870s 5 1880s 6 1890s 7 1900s 8 1910s 9 1920s 10 1930s 11 1940s 12 1950s 13 1960s 14 1970s 15 1980s 16 1990s 17 2000s 17.1 2000 17.2 2001 17.3 2002 17.4 2003 17.5 2004 17.6 2005 18 See also 19 External links 20 References

1830s

• September 15 1830 – England: William Huskisson becomes first ever passenger train death. Killed by Stephenson's Rocket at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.

1850s

• November 1 1855 – Gasconade Bridge train disaster, St. Louis, Missouri, United States: With more than 600 passengers aboard the Pacific Railroad excursion train celebrating the railway line's opening, outside St. Louis, Missouri the bridge collapsed and the locomotive plus 12 of the 13 attached cars plunged into the Gasconade River. Over thirty people died and hundreds were seriously injured.
• March 12 1855 – Desjardins Canal Bridge train disaster, Ontario, Canada: Ninety passengers boarded a train from Toronto, Ontario en route to Hamilton, Ontario. As the train approached its final destination, the bridge spanning the Desjardins Canal collapsed as the train derailed. Seventy passengers died from trauma or drowning and exposure after being thrown into Cootes Paradise.

1860s

• June 29 1864 – Beloeil, Quebec, Canada: 99 killed when an immigrant train failed to stop at an open swing bridge and fell into the Richelieu River. May also be called St-Hilaire train disaster.
• June 9 1865 – Staplehurst, United Kingdom: 10 killed, 49 injured, Charles Dickens is amongst the survivors.
• August 20 1868 – Abergele train disaster, Wales: passenger train collides with runaway cargo trucks and their cargo load of paraffin explodes. 33 dead, engine driver badly burned.

1870s

• September 10 1874 – Norwich (Norfolk), United Kingdom: 25 people were killed when a communication error caused a mail train and an express passenger train to meet in a head-on collision on a single-line section near Norwich, Norfolk. The accident led directly to the introduction of automatic control systems to manage traffic on single-track railways.
• 29 December 1876 – Ashtabula River Railroad bridge disaster, Ashtabula, Ohio, United States: The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Train No. 5, The Pacific Express, collapsed the Ashtabula River bridge dropping eleven passenger cars into a fire started by the car stoves. Of the 159 people onboard, 64 were injured and 92 were killed.
• 28 December 1879 – Scotland: The Tay Rail Bridge collapses in a violent storm while a train is crossing it. 75 lives are lost. William Topaz McGonagall produces his epic poem The Tay Bridge Disaster to commemorate the event.

1880s

• June 12 1889 – Armagh rail disaster, Ireland: Runaway carriages collide with an oncoming train, killing 88.

1890s

• 22 October 1895 – Gare Montparnasse, Paris, France: express train overran buffer stop and crossed more than 30 metres of concorse before plummetting through a window.
• March through December 1898 – Tsavo maneaters, Uganda: about 140 rail workers building a bridge over the Tsavo River are mauled by lions.

1900s

• August 1903 – Paris Metro train fire, France: fire on Paris Métro, 84 killed
• September 27, 1903 – Wreck of the Old '97, Danville, Virginia, United States: A southbound Southern Railway passenger train derails on a trestle in Danville; 11 people are killed.
• 30 June 1906 – Salisbury rail crash, Salisbury, England: Racing express train collides with a milk train on a sharp curve, 28 killed (24 passengers, 4 crew).
• April 20 1908 – Sunshine train disaster, Melbourne, Australia: Rear-end collision, kills 44 and injures around 400.
• April 12 1909 – Gary, Indiana, United States: A westbound Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad train runs past a meet point and causes a head-on collision with the eastbound train.
• June 19 1909 – Shadyside, Indiana, United States: An eastbound Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railroad train runs past a meet point and causes a head-on collision with the westbound train.

1910s

• December 24 1910 – Hawes Junction train disaster, Cumbria, England: Busy signalman forgets about light engines on main line, and express signalled onto it.
• May 22 1915 – Quintinshill, United Kingdom: Troop train crashes, kills 227 and injures 246.
• June 22 1918 – Hammond circus train wreck, near Hammond, Indiana, United States: An empty troop train collides with a parked circus train. 86 killed, 127 injured.
• July 9 1918 – Great train wreck of 1918, Nashville, Tennessee, United States: Two Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railroad trains collide head-on. 101 killed, 171 injured. Deadliest train accident in United States history.
• November 1 1918 – Malbone Street Wreck, New York, New York, United States: A subway train derails on sharp curve in a tunnel killing 97 and injuring over 100.

1920s

• 1920s – Abermule train collision: faulty operation of Train Tablet leads to head on collision.
• 1928 – Lindfield train disaster, Sydney, Australia: collision when train speeds after stop-and-proceed at red signal.

1930s

• 22 December 1939 – Genthin, Germany: collision when train D180 drove into previous but delayed and overcrowded train D10 from Berlin to Cologne. 278 killed, 453 injured. Represents one of the largest train accidents in Germany.

1940s

• 1940s – Norton Fitzwarren train disaster, England: a train driver misreads the signals on a four track line, and drives his train off the end of the track.
• December 27 1942 – Almonte, Ontario, Canada: Thirty-six people are killed and over 200 injured when a passenger train running late was struck from behind by a troop train.
• June 4 1943 – Hyde railway accident, New Zealand: Train derails at speed in a curved cutting, 21 killed, 47 injured.
• March 3 1944 – Balvano, Italy: Over 500 people who stole a ride on a freight train die of carbon monoxide poisoning when the train stalls in a tunnel.
• July 6 1944 – Troop train crash near Jellico, Tennessee, United States: Passenger train derails due to excessive speed on defective track. 35 killed, 99 injured; all soldiers in U.S. Army enroute to deployment.
• September 1 1947 – Dugald, Manitoba, Canada: A Canadian National Railway passenger train failed to take the siding and collided with the No. 4 Transcontinental that was standing on the main line. Thirty-one people were killed.

1950s

• November 21 1950 – Canoe River, British Columbia, Canada: A Canadian National Railways train carrying Korea-bound troops is given incorrect orders and collides with a passenger train, killing 21, including 17 soldiers.
• October 8 1952 – Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash, United Kingdom: Three trains are involved in a crash that kills 112 and injures 340.
• December 19, 1953 – Sydenham Rail Disaster
• December 24 1953 – Šakvice train disaster, Czech Republic: Express train whose crew fell asleep after several bottles of wine hits commuter train at a station, killing 106.
• December 24 1953 – Tangiwai disaster, New Zealand: 151 die when a bridge over the Whangaehu River collapses.
• January 23 1955 – Sutton Coldfield train disaster, England: A passenger train rounds a sharp curve too fast and derails; 17 people die as a result.
• August 22 1955 – Spring City Train Disaster, Spring City, Tennessee, United States: School bus disregards crossing signal and is struck by freight train. 11 dead, 39 hurt, all the dead are school children.
• September 1958 – Drachenfels Railway, Konigswinter, Germany: A rack railway train derails, killing 17.

1960s

• 16 November 1960 – Stéblová train disaster, Czech Republic: 118 are killed and 110 injured in a head-on collision.
• 8 January 1962 – Harmelen train disaster, the Netherlands: 93 died in a near head-on collision in the fog.
• 1963 – Yokohama rail crash, Japan: two commuter trains hit derailed freight train.
• 6 Juli 1967 – Langenweddingen, East Germany near Magdeburg: ca. 140 killed, mainly children. Train collides with lorry carrying 15000 litre of light petrol.
• 1969 – Violet Town railway disaster, Australia: a head-on collision on a single line – no ATP – 9 killed

1970s

• January 18 1977 – Granville railway disaster, Australia: 83 die when a train derails and hits a bridge support.
• February 22 1978 – Waverly Tank Car Explosion, Waverly, Tennessee, United States: Two derailed cars containing Liquified Petroleum Gas violently explode on Louisville and Nashville Railroad. 15 fatalities and 56 injuries result from fiery explosion. Numerous buildings in Waverly's business district destroyed.
• October 22 1979 – Invergowrie rail crash, Scotland: starting signal failed to return completely to stop, giving train a false clear indication.
• November 10 1979 – Mississauga, Canada: tank cars containing chlorine derail causing deadly smoke and air contamination; no fatalities or serious injuries, however more than 250,000 residents are evacuated from the city, resulting in the largest peacetime evacuation in North American history.

1980s

• June 6 1981 – Bihar train disaster, India: Hundreds are killed (300–800) when a train falls into a river.
• January 21 1985 – Gary, Indiana, United States: During a period of track maintenance, the Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad dispatcher sends two trains onto the same track segment at the same time, causing a head-on collision of the two trains.
• 1986 – Colwich rail crash, Rugeley, Staffordshire, England: High speed collision when one train fails to stop in time at a red signal, and obstructs a junction. Despite two locomotives being totally destroyed, the only death was one of the drivers.
• February 8 1986 – Hinton train collision, Dalehurst, Alberta, Canada: 23 lives lost when VIA Rail passenger train and CN freight train collide head-on.
• October 30 1986 – Gary, Indiana, United States: A Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad train strikes a flatbed truck that drove around the crossing gates.
• January 4 1987 – Chase, Maryland, United States: An Amtrak train collides with a Conrail freight locomotive and is derailed, killing 16 passengers.
• April 1 1987 – Burnham, Indiana, United States: A rusted rail trips a signal incorrectly on the Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad causing a hopper to foul the mainline; one of the railroad's passenger trains hits the hopper.
• 1988 – Clapham Junction rail crash, London, England: wrong side failure, 35 dead, more than 100 injured
• March 4 1989 – Purley Station rail crash, London, England: As one train crosses over from one track to another, a second train runs a red signal and collides with the first train; the accident leaves six people dead and 94 injured.
• June 4 1989 – Ufa train disaster, Russia: Hundreds are killed (400–1000) when two trains pass near a leaking natural gas line, which explodes.

1990s

• April, 1991 – Shigaraki train disaster, Shigaraki, Shiga, Japan: 42 people were killed.
• January 18 1993 – Chicago, Illinois, United States: The eastbound Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad train number 7 runs a red signal and is hit by westbound train number 12; 7 passengers die in the accident.
• September 22 1993 – Big Bayou Conot train disaster, Alabama, United States: Barge causes bridge collapse plunging the train into the water, killing 47.
• June 25 1994 – Greenock rail crash, Scotland: Two people are killed when a train strikes concrete blocks that were placed on the track by vandals.
• January 14, 1996 – Hines Hill train collision, Australia: Signal Passed At Danger at a crossing loop causes a head on collision
• March 4 1996 – Weyauwega derailment, Wisconsin, United States: A broken turnout derails a Wisconsin Central train carrying liquefied petroleum gas and propane. The town of Weyauwega, Wisconsin, is evacuated as the fire burns for most of the 18-day evacuation.
• 1996 – Beresfield rail disaster, Australia: coal train collides with the rear of an earlier coal train and blocks all tracks causing collisions with other trains.
• June 3 1998 – Eschede train disaster, Germany: Part of a high-speed ICE train derails and strikes a bridge, killing 101.
• June 18 1998 – Chicago, Illinois, United States: The westbound Chicago SouthShore and South Bend Railroad train number 102 strikes a semi-truck that was stopped on a grade crossing.
• March 15 1999 – Bourbonnais train accident, Bourbonnais, Illinois, United States: A southbound Amtrak train out of Chicago, Illinois, hits a loaded semi truck at a grade crossing and derails; the accident results in 11 fatalities and over 100 injuries.
• August 18 1999– Zanthus train collision, Australia: An engineman incorrectly throws a turnout turning the through train into a collision with a looped train.
• October 5 1999 – Ladbroke Grove (Paddington) rail disaster, United Kingdom: Two trains collide head-on, killing 31 and injuring 400.
• 1999 – Glenbrook train disaster, New South Wales, Australia: Stop and Proceed rule at red signal applied with insufficient care (too much speed), killing 7.

2000s

2000

• January 4 2000 – Åsta in Åmot, Norway: Two passenger trains collide on Rørosbanen killing 19 people.
• February 6 2000 – Bruehl, Germany: A night express train speeds in a construction area and derails at Bruehl station, 9 die.
• March 2000 – Tokyo train disaster, Japan: A Tokyo subway train derails and is hit by another train on the next track; four are killed and 33 are injured.
• October 17 2000 – Hatfield rail crash, United Kingdom: Part of a rail shatters as a passenger train passes over it; four people are killed, 70 are injured.
• November 11 2000 – Kaprun disaster, Austria: A funicular train catches fire in a tunnel, 155 die.

2001

• February 28 2001 – Selby rail crash, Selby, North Yorkshire, England: A driver on England's M62 highway falls asleep at the wheel; his car leaves the road just before a bridge over the tracks, and is almost instantly hit by a train as the car reaches the tracks. 10 people are killed, over 80 are injured.
• March 27, 2001 – Pécrot, Belgium: Two passenger trains collide on the same track, killing 8 and injuring 12.
• November 15 2001 – Andersonville, Michigan (northwest of Detroit), United States: Two Canadian National Railway trains collide head-on.
• December 23 2001 – Rochester, New York, United States: An incorrect brake application on a CSX local train that had stopped to perform switching at Kodak Park causes the train to run away and derail five miles later, destroying homes and businesses in the area.

2002

• January 18 2002 – Minot, North Dakota, United States: A Canadian Pacific Railway train derails at 1:40 a.m. C.S.T. near a residential area west of Minot; the derailment results in a massive anhydrous ammonia leak. Seven of 15 tank cars rupture, releasing 200,000+ gallons of anhydrous ammonia which vaporize in the sub-zero air, forming a toxic cloud that drifts over much of Minot. One man dies and numerous others are treated for chemical exposure.
• February 20 2002 – Al Ayatt train disaster, Egypt: A train packed to double capacity catches fire, 373 die.
• May 2 2002 – Firmdale, Manitoba, Canada: An eastbound Canadian National train collides with a trailer; about 20 cars carrying plastic pellets, benzene, glycol and hexane catch fire, forcing the evacuation of nearly 200 local residents.
• May 10 2002 – Potters Bar rail crash, north of London, England: a northbound train derailed at high speed; seven killed, 11 seriously injured.
• June 24 2002 – Igandu train disaster, Tanzania: Nearly 300 are killed when a passenger train rolls backwards into a goods train.

2003

• January 31 2003 – Waterfall train disaster, Waterfall, New South Wales, Australia: A train derails as it rounds sharp curve at too high a speed. It is possible that the driver had a heart attack.
• February 18 2003 – Daegu subway fire, South Korea: A mentally ill man starts a fire which engulfs two subway trains, killing some 200.

2004

• February 18 2004 – Nishapur, Iran: A train derails and catches fire, exploding hours later. About 300 are killed.
• April 22 2004 – Ryongchon disaster, North Korea: Over 50 are killed and more than 1000 injured when an explosion takes place.
• November 6 2004 – Ufton Nervet rail crash, United Kingdom: A High Speed Train hits a stationary car on a level crossing (an apparent suicide attempt) at 100mph and derails. Five train passengers and the drivers of both the train and the car are killed; over 100 passengers are injured.
• November 15 2004 – Bundaburg Tilt Train Derailment, Berajondo (near Bundaberg), Queensland, Australia: The world's fastest narrow-gauge train derailed at 108km/h. Remarakably, no-one was killed or permanently injured. The cause of the accident is still unknown and an investigation is still under way.
• December 26 2004 – "Queen of the Sea" train disaster, Telwatta, Sri Lanka: Approximately 1700 are killed in the world's worst rail disaster to date as a train is overwhelmed by a tsunami created by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.

2005

• January 6 2005 – Graniteville train disaster, South Carolina, United States: Still under investigation by the NTSB; preliminary findings are that a turnout is left lined for a siding when it should have been lined for the mainline, causing a through freight train to collide with a parked train. [1] – 9 killed.
• January 12 2005 – Fort St. John, Manitoba (a suburb of Winnipeg), Canada: Five cars of a CN freight train derail; as one of the cars was carrying propane, the area is evacuated. The tank car remains upright and intact, so local residents are allowed to return fairly quickly.
• January 17 2005 – Bangkok, Thailand: Two metro trains on the near new Blue line collide. About 140 passengers injured.
• January 26 2005 – Glendale train crash, California, United States: In what was originally thought to be a failed suicide attempt by an automobile driver, a southbound Metrolink double deck commuter train collides with a car parked on a grade crossing and derails; the derailed train strikes the northbound Metrolink train on the other mainline track and a parked Union Pacific Railroad freight train on a siding. 11 people are killed, about 100 injured.
• April 14 2005 – Solon Springs, Wisconsin, United States: Nineteen cars of a southbound Union Pacific train operating on Canadian National Railway south of Superior, Wisconsin, derail and cause a forest fire near the town of Solon Springs, Wisconsin.
• April 21 2005 – Vadodara rail collision, India: collision between freight and passenger express train – 18 killed.
• April 25 2005 – Amagasaki rail crash, Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan: A train derailed on sharp curve smashes into an apartment building. 106 were killed and no less than 460 were injured.
• April 26 2005 – Polgahawela level crossing collision, Sri Lanka: a bus tries to beat the train at a level crossing; at least 35 people are killed.
• May 3 2005 – Galt (about 50 miles / 80 km east of the Quad Cities), Illinois, United States: Union Pacific Railroad's transcontinental mainline is blocked when a train derails and destroys the 140 ft bridge across Elkhorn Creek.
• Biaora, India – 8 killed when ox-cart hit by train.

See also

• List of accidents by death toll, category "other"
• List of disasters
• List of road accidents – includes level crossing accidents.
• List of British rail accidents

External links

• NTSB Publications – The United States National Transportation Safety Board official reports of transportation accidents.

References

• Associated Press (April 14 2005), Freight train derails, burns in northwestern Wisconsin. Retrieved April 14 2005.
• Associated Press (May 4 2005), Investigators look for cause of Illinois derailment. Retrieved May 5 2005.
• BBC: Europe's history of rail disasters
• BBC: World's worst rail disasters
• Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad accidents. Retrieved January 27 2005.
• (May 2002), CSX recognizes human error, Trains Magazine, p. 22.
• Molloy, Tim; Associated Press (January 26 2005) Suicide try triggers California commuter rail tragedy, police say. Retrieved January 26 2005.
• Train wrecks in India
• Trains News Wire (May 4 2005), Illinois derailment closes UP Overland Route main line. Retrieved May 5 2005.