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Criteria for accidents to be included in this list is being discussed at Talk:List of rail accidents/Criteria for inclusion. Please feel free to contribute to the discussion.

List of rail accidents from 1950 to 1999.

For historic accidents before 1950, see List of pre-1950 rail accidents.

For accidents from 2000 to the present, see List of rail accidents.

Notable historic train accidents, 1950-1999
1950s:	1950	1951	1952	1953	1954	1955	1956	1957	1958	1959
1960s:	1960	1961	1962	1963	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969
1970s:	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
1980s:	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
1990s:	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
See also — External links — References

[edit] 1950s

[edit] 1950

• Image:Flag of Canada.svg March 18, 1950 – Ashton, Ontario, Canada: Wind blows smoke and freshly fallen snow to obscure the headlight on a Canadian Pacific Railway passenger train doing switching maneuvers at Ashton; the apparently blinking light is misinterpreted as a clear signal by the engineer of an opposing train who throttles up and runs into passenger cars that were still standing on the mainline.<ref>Colin Churcher's Railway Pages (February 2006), Railway Accidents in the Ottawa Area: 1950, March 18 - Canadian Pacific - Ashton. Retrieved March 18 2006.</ref>
• Image:Flag of Wales (bordered).svg August 27, 1950 – Penmaenmawr, Caernarfonshire, Wales. The Irish Mail train, en-route from the port of Holyhead, crashed into another engine killing six passengers. A human signalling error was to blame.
• Image:Flag of Canada.svg November 21, 1950 – Canoe River, British Columbia, Canada: A Canadian National Railway train carrying Korea-bound troops is given incorrect orders and collides with a passenger train, killing 21, including 17 soldiers.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg November 22 1950 – Richmond Hill, New York, United States: a collision between two Long Island Rail Road commuter trains kills 79, hundreds injured.
• Image:Flag of Norway.svg November 1950 – Hjuksebø, Norway: Two goods trains get loose and crash with an express train on the Sørlandsbanen line. 15 killed.

[edit] 1951

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg February 6, 1951 – Woodbridge, New Jersey, United States: The Broker, a Pennsylvania Railroad passenger train, derails, killing 85 people and injuring over 500.
• Image:Flag of the Czech Republic (bordered).svg July 22, 1951 – Tatranská Lomnica, Slovakia, Czecho-Slovakia: In the Slovakian Tatra Mountains (Vysoké Tatry), two ČSD electric mountain-trains collided. 13 people were killed in this accident, and 6 people died in the nearby hospital. A such crash had hapened in 1895 in the same place. (Prince Roland von Bagratuni, corespondent of the Railway Market & InfoBus, Poland - http: www.railway-market.pl & www.infobus.pl) [1]

[edit] 1952

• Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg October 8, 1952 – Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash, United Kingdom: Three trains are involved in a crash that kills 112 and injures 340. A rear-end collision due to a driver passing a signal at danger in fog is immediately followed by another express running into the wreckage.

[edit] 1953

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg January 15, 1953 – Washington, DC, United States: The brakes fail on a Pennsylvania Railroad train; the train barrels through the end of track barriers and stationmaster's office at Union Station in Washington, DC, but nobody is killed in the accident. President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower's inauguration is scheduled the following week and there is no time to extract the GG-1 electric locomotive from the basement of Union Station where it ended after the floor of the concourse gave way, so the hole is planked over for the celebration week and after the inaugural festivities, the unit is cut up into three pieces, hauled to Altoona, Pennsylvania where it had been built and is welded back together to serve for another three decades. GG-1 No. 4876 is in the collection of the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg March 27, 1953 – Conneaut, Ohio, United States: Three New York Central trains tangle near Conneaut on the four-track mainline on the night of March 27. Twenty-one passengers die. Cause is found to be an improperly secured gondola load - a section of thirteen-inch pipe fell from a freighter car onto the adjacent track, getting struck by a passenger train.
• Image:Flag of Australia.svg December 19, 1953 – Sydenham Rail Disaster, Australia: a passenger train of the New South Wales Railways runs into the rear of another train. Five people are killed and 748 injured.
• Image:Flag of the Czech Republic (bordered).svg December 24, 1953 – Šakvice train disaster, Czechoslovakia: Express train whose crew fell asleep after several bottles of wine hits commuter train at a station, killing 106.
• Image:Flag of New Zealand.svg December 24, 1953 – New Zealand: Tangiwai disaster; the Tangiwai railway bridge over the Whangaehu River collapses as the overnight express train between Wellington and Auckland passes over it; the bridge supports had been weakened by a lahar (a volcanic ash and debris filled flash flood) a few minutes before the train passed. 151 people are killed.

[edit] 1954

[edit] 1955

• Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg January 23, 1955 – Sutton Coldfield train disaster, England: A passenger train rounds a sharp curve too fast and derails at Sutton Coldfield station; 17 people die as a result.
• Image:Flag of Mexico.svg April 3, 1955 – Guadalajara, Mexico: A train falls into a canyon. 300 killed.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg 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.

[edit] 1956

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg September 5, 1956 – near Robinson, New Mexico, United States: Two Santa Fe express passenger trains collide when a railroad worker prematurely throws a switch directly in front of one of the trains. 20 railroad employees, mostly dining car personnel, are killed.<ref>[2]</ref>

[edit] 1957

• Image:Flag of Finland (bordered).svg March 15, 1957 – near Kuurila, Finland: An overnight passenger train collides head-on with an express train. 26 are killed and 60 injured in Finland's worst peace-time train crash.
• Image:Flag of Pakistan.svg September 29, 1957 – Montgomery, Pakistan: An express train crashes into an oil train. 250 killed.
• Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg December 6, 1957 – Lewisham rail crash, England: A steam train passes a red signal in the fog and ploughs into the back of an electric train. The crash also destroys a support column of a railway bridge, causing parts of the bridge to collapse onto the wreck. 90 people are killed.

[edit] 1958

• Image:Flag of Germany.svg September, 1958 – Drachenfels Railway, Königswinter, Germany: A rack railway train derails, killing 17.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg September 15, 1958 – Newark Bay, New Jersey, United States: A Central Railroad of New Jersey morning commuter train blows through stop signals, derails, then slides out the open drawspan. Both diesels and first two coaches plunge into Newark Bay and sink immediately, 48 drown. A third coach hangs precariously out the drawbridge for two hours, snagged by its rear truck before it, too, topples into the water. As the whole operating crew was killed, no absolute determination for the accident was reached, but a medical emergency in the cab was theorized.

Image:OP-7223.jpg

[edit] 1959

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg June 28, 1959 – Meldrim, Georgia, United States: Tank cars carrying butane derail atop a wooden trestle owned by the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. The resulting explosion and fire kills 23 persons.

[edit] 1960s

[edit] 1960

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg March 1, 1960 – Rosedale, California, United States: An Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway passenger train strikes a heavy tanker truck carrying a large quantity crude oil at a grade crossing and derails. The wreckage immediately ignites and fourteen perish in the inferno.
• Image:Flag of East Germany.svg May 15, 1960 – Leipzig, East Germany: Two local trains collide in Leipzig central station. 54 fatalities.
• Image:Flag of the Czech Republic (bordered).svg November 16, 1960 – Stéblová train disaster, Czechoslovakia: 118 are killed and 110 injured in a head-on collision.

[edit] 1961

[edit] 1962

• Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg January 8, 1962 – Harmelen, The Netherlands: The Harmelen train disaster, the worst railway accident in the history of The Netherlands, occurs when one passenger train driver misses a warning signal in fog and passes a red signal to collide nearly head-on with another passenger train. 91 people (including both drivers) die, 54 are injured of which 2 lost their lives while in hospital.
• Image:Flag of Japan (bordered).svg May 3, 1962 – Tokyo, Japan: three-train collision at Mikawashima Station, 160 killed.

[edit] 1963

• Image:Flag of Japan (bordered).svg 1963 – Yokohama rail crash, Japan: Two commuter trains hit a derailed freight train. 161 killed.

[edit] 1964

• Image:Flag of Sri Lanka.svg March 18, 1964 – Mirigama train crash, Sri Lanka: A Sri Lankan commuter train derails at high speed, killing over 60 people. The survivors are rescued by Boy Scouts.<ref>[3]</ref>

[edit] 1965

[edit] 1966

• Image:Flag of Canada.svg October 1966 – The Dorion level crossing accident: A merchant CN Rail train traveling at an excessive speed collides with a school bus at a level-crossing in Dorion, Quebec, Canada, killing 19 of 40 teenage students and the bus driver.

[edit] 1967

• Image:Flag of East Germany.svg July 6, 1967 – Langenweddingen rail crash, Langenweddingen, East Germany near Magdeburg: Because of an overstretched cable preventing the proper operation of a level crossing's barriers, a local train collides with lorry carrying 15,000 litres of light petrol and ignites. 94 killed, of which 44 are children on a holiday trip.

• Image:Flag of Denmark.svg August 10, 1967 – Odense, Denmark: 11 people are killed and 36 injured as a lyntog express train from Copenhagen crashes into a stationary train shortly before Odense.

• Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg August 25, 1967 – Beesd, Netherlands: The driver and conductor (who in those days was supposed to ride together with the driver in the front cabin) are killed and 7 passengers of a passenger train are injured at 5:55 in the morning, when a cargo train crashes head-on into the first passenger train of that day. The driver of the cargo train (who was injured but survived the crash) missed a red signal, because of dense fog.<ref name="zwaailichten.org">Overzicht spoorwegongevallen</ref>

• Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg November 5, 1967 – Hither Green rail crash, England: 49 people are killed and 78 people injured as an express train from Hastings to Charing Cross derails at Hither Green, due to a broken rail at a rail joint.

[edit] 1968

• Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg January 6, 1968 – Hixon rail crash, England: A Manchester-London express strikes a vehicle carrying a 122-tonne (120-long ton) transformer at an automatic level crossing. Eleven people are killed and 27 seriously injured.

[edit] 1969

• Image:Flag of Australia.svg 1969 – Violet Town railway disaster, Australia: a head-on collision on a single line, no ATP; 9 killed

[edit] 1970s

[edit] 1970

• Image:Flag of Argentina.svg February 1, 1970 – Benavidez, Argentina: An intercity train crashes into a local train that had stopped because of mechanical failures. 236 killed.
• Image:Flag of Norway.svg June 1970 – Oslo, Norway: A train from Skien collides with a shunting locomotive at Lysaker. 30 injured.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg June 21, 1970 – Crescent City, Illinois, United States: Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad Company's Train No. 20 derails in downtown Crescent City; propane tank car ruptures and explosions cause fires that destroy the city center. No fatalities.

[edit] 1971

• Image:Flag of Germany.svg February 9, 1971 – Aitrang, Germany: A Zürich-bound TEE train derails because of excess speed and is hit by a railbus. 28 die, 42 injured.
• Image:Flag of Germany.svg May 27, 1971 – Dahlerau, Germany: A special train full of schoolchildren collides with a freight train on the line between Wuppertal and Radevormwald because of a misunderstanding of signals, 46 die, 25 injured. Worst rail accident in West Germany during Deutsche Bundesbahn times.
• Image:Flag of Germany.svg July 21, 1971 – Rheinweiler, Germany: A fast train from Basel to Copenhagen derails because of a technical failure in the Class 103 engine; 23 dead, 121 injured.

[edit] 1972

• Image:Flag of Mexico.svg October 6, 1972 – Saltillo, Mexico: A train with pilgrims derails and catches fire. 208 killed.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg October 30, 1972 – Chicago, Illinois, United States: Collision between two commuter trains, 45 killed and over 300 injured.
• Image:Flag of East Germany.svg October 30, 1972 – Schweinsburg-Culten, East Germany: The driver of a fast train does not notice a stop signal because of heavy fog and collides with another train. 22 killed, 70 injured.

[edit] 1973

• Image:Flag of Denmark.svg September 7, 1973 – Copenhagen, Denmark: 2 people killed and 23 injured as an S-train collide with another stationary S-train in a tunnel close to Østerport station.

[edit] 1974

Image:Italicus.jpg

• Image:Flag of Italy.svg August 04, 1974 – A bomb explodes in car 5 of the Italicus Express running from Rome to Brennero on the night of the 4th August. Twelve passengers were killed and 44 were wounded. Ten years later in the same place, the same thing happened again.
• Image:Flag of Croatia.svg August 30, 1974 – Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia): An express train from Athens to Dortmund derails at Zagreb train station because of excessive speed. 153 passengers killed.

[edit] 1975

• Image:Flag of Norway.svg February 22, 1975 – Tretten, Norway: A passenger train from Oslo collides with an express train from Trondheim. 27 killed.
• Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg February 28, 1975 - Moorgate tube crash, England: A London Underground train fails to stop at a cul-de-sac tunnel at Moorgate station, 43 people are killed.
• Image:Flag of Germany.svg June 8, 1975 – Warngau, Germany: Two trains collide on a single-rail stretch of track between Lenggries and Munich because of a dispatcher error. 41 dead, 122 injured.

[edit] 1976

• Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg May 4, 1976 – near Schiedam, the Netherlands: An international train collides with a local train, killing 24 and injuring 11.

[edit] 1977

• Image:Flag of Australia.svg January 18, 1977 – Granville railway disaster, Australia: 83 die when a train derails and hits a bridge support.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg February 4, 1977 – Chicago Loop derailment Chicago, Illinois, United States: In the worst accident in the system's history, a Chicago Transit Authority elevated train disregards cab signals and rear ends another train during the evening rush hour on a corner of the Loop. Eleven people are killed and over 180 injured as four cars of the rear train derail and crash to the street below. <ref>(Chicago-L.org)</ref>

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg November 9, 1977 – Pensacola, Florida, United States: A Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company freight train derails near the Escambia Bay, and a punctured tank car of anhydrous ammonia kills two local residents as they try to flee the toxic gas cloud. Another 46 are injured.
• Image:Flag of East Germany.svg November 27, 1977 – Bitterfeld, East Germany: The boiler of a Class 01 steam engine explodes due to lack of water, killing 9 and injuring 45.

[edit] 1978

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg February 22, 1978 – Waverly Tank Car Explosion, Waverly, Tennessee, United States: A Louisville and Nashville Railroad derails, two tank cars containing Liquified Petroleum Gas explode, killing 15 and injuring 56. Numerous buildings in Waverly are destroyed by force of the blast.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg February 26, 1978 – Youngstown, Florida, United States: Atlanta & St. Andrews Bay Railroad freight train derails, a chlorine gas cloud, released from a punctured tank car, kills eight and injures 138. This was the first recorded major liquified chlorine gas disaster and the cloud was some 5 km (3 miles) long.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg December 3, 1978 – Shipman, Virginia, United States: Southern Railway's Southern Crescent enters a curve at excess speed; all of the consist but the lead engine and last car derail and slide down a ravine. Six die, including Gov. Jimmy Carter's former chef, Louis Price, killed in the galley. Sixty others are injured, most trapped in the wreckage.

Image:Taunton-sleeping-car-fire.jpg

• Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg July 6 1978 – Taunton train fire, Taunton, England: A fire aboard a British Rail sleeping car travelling from Penzance to Paddington station in London kills 12. Investigation shows that the fire was caused by the careless placement of a plastic bag of linens against a heater in the car's vestibule.

[edit] 1979

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg April 8, 1979 – Louisville and Nashville Railroad freight derails at Crestview, Florida, United States and punctured tank car leaks anhydrous ammonia, injuring 14.
• Image:Flag of Scotland.svg October 22, 1979 – Invergowrie rail crash, Scotland: starting signal failed to return completely to stop, giving the following train a false clear indication. 5 killed.
• Image:Flag of Canada.svg November 10, 1979 – Mississauga train derailment of 1979 Mississauga, Canada: tank cars containing propane and chlorine derail, causing a fire which lofts deadly contamination high into the air. No fatalities or serious injuries, but more than 250,000 residents are evacuated from the city: the largest peacetime emergency evacuation in North American history until 2005 when New Orleans, Louisiana, is evacuated due to Hurricane Katrina.
• Image:Flag of Thailand.svg 1979 – Taling Chan, Thailand: 54 people are killed in the worst accident in Thai railway history when a Thonburi - Nakhon Pathom commuter train collides with a Bangsue - Padang Besar freight train at Taling Chan on 21 August 1979 as a result of errors on the part of the fatigued freight train engineer.

[edit] 1980s

[edit] 1980

• Image:Flag of Sweden.svg June 2, 1980– Hinsnoret-Ornäs, Dalarna, Sweden: 11 killed and over 60 injured as a passenger train and a freight train collide.
• Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg July 25, 1980 – Winsum, the Netherlands: Two trains collide on a single track between Groningen and Roodeschool resulting in 9 deaths and 21 injured.
• Image:Flag of Ireland (bordered).svg August 1, 1980 – Buttevant, County Cork, Ireland: A train crashes into a siding on the main Dublin - Cork line resulting in 18 deaths and 62 injured. This remains the Republic of Ireland's worst transportation disaster.
• Image:Flag of Poland (bordered).svg August 19, 1980 – A freight train runs through a red light and slams into a passenger train traveling from Łódź to Bydgoszcz, Poland. The accident near Toruń killed 67 people.

[edit] 1981

• Image:Flag of Argentina.svg March 8, 1981 – A train traveling from Mar del Plata, Argentina to Buenos Aires smashes into a pair of derailed freight cars 60 miles (95 kilometers) south of the capital, killing 45 and injuring 120.
• Image:Flag of the Republic of China.svg March 8, 1981 – A truck collides with a passenger train at a level crossing, sending five of the ten coaches over a bridge into a dry river bed in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Thirty are killed in what was the worst rail crash in Taiwan up to that point.
• Image:Flag of South Korea (bordered).svg May 14, 1981 – Two express trains collide about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Seoul, killing 54 people.
• Image:Flag of India.svg June 6, 1981 – Bihar train disaster, India: Hundreds are killed (300-800) when a train falls into a river.
• Image:Flag of India.svg July 17, 1981 – A freight train slams into the back of a passenger train in Madhya Pradesh, India, killing 39 people and injuring 43.
• Image:Flag of India.svg July 19, 1981 – In an incident blamed on sabotage, a train traveling to Ahmedabad from New Delhi, India, derailed in Gujarat, killing 30 people and injuring 70.
• Image:Flag of India.svg July 31, 1981 – Six coaches of a train derail near Bahawalpur, India, killing 43 and injuring 50.

[edit] 1982

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg January 13, 1982 – Washington, D.C.: An Orange line train derails on the Washington Metro between the Smithsonian and Federal Triangle stations. While the train was being backed up, the derailed truck drives the aluminum car into a tunnel support, killing three people. By coincidence this happened at the same time Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge.
• Image:Flag of Algeria.svg January 27, 1982 – A passenger train traveling from Oran to Algiers derailed 50 miles west of the Algerian capital, killing at least 130 and injuring 146, in Algeria's worst train crash in 20 years.
• Image:Flag of India.svg January 27, 1982 – A freight train and an express passenger train collide head-on in heavy fog near Agra, India, killing 50 and injuring 50.
• Image:Flag of India.svg March 20, 1982 – A Mangalore-to-New Delhi train slams into a tourist bus at a level crossing in Andhra Pradesh, snapping the bus in two, killing at least 59 people on the bus and injuring 25 others.
• Image:Flag of Mexico.svg July 12, 1982 – An express train traveling from Mexicali to Guadalajara, Mexico, derails into a ravine near Tepic, killing 34 and injuring 136.

[edit] 1983

• Image:Flag of Mexico.svg February 20, 1983 – A train traveling from Nogales, Sonora, Mexico to Guadalajara is rammed in the rear by a freight train near Guaymas, killing at least 56 and injuring 78.
• Image:Flag of Germany.svg May 27, 1983 – Frechen, Germany: The Oostende-Wien-Express night train derails due to trackbed damages. The engine hits a bridge and the first car jackknifes into the wreckage. Seven are killed, 23 injured.
• Image:Flag of Ireland (bordered).svg August 21, 1983 – Cherryville Junction, County Kildare, Ireland: crash occurred when a train, which had run out of fuel and stopped on the tracks at Cherryville junction in Co. Kildare, was hit by a second train from the rear. 7 people were killed and 55 were injured. The official investigation found several organisational factors to have been substantial causes of the crash. These included: CIE rules that allowed drivers to proceed past red signals in certain circumstances; ambiguity of responsibility between the driver and the guard; and inadequate re-fuelling procedures.<ref>Department of Transport Publications, Report into Cherryville Railway Accident</ref>

[edit] 1984

• July 14, 1984 – Divača, Slovenia, Yugoslavia: A freight train plows into the rear of a crowded passenger train, killing 31 and injuring 33.
• Image:Flag of Hong Kong.svg November 25, 1984 – Hong Kong: A train derailed between Sheung Shui and Fanling station on the KCR East Rail. The incident occurred when the driver, preparing to back the train up to Sheung Shui station, failed to follow a speed/stop signal while the train was exceeding the speed limit. The train crashed into a boulder/buffer with the first 2 cars piling on top of each other. The degree of which they were damaged was so extensive that the cars never returned to service. Luckily, the passengers were unloaded prior to the crash while the driver sustained only minor injuries. However, the accident caused train services to suspend for the rest of the day and the incident spurred a series of public outcries concerning railway safety.
• Image:Flag of Italy.svg December 23, 1984 – Italy: The Rapido 904 from Naples to Milan named the "Christmas train" explodes in the longest Italian tunnel of San Benedetto Val di Sambro. An alliance formed between Mafia groups "What ours" and the Neapolitan Racket was behind the massacre on Express 904. In that tunnel there remained the bodies of 15 people, and hundreds were seriously injured, some dying many years later.

[edit] 1985

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg January 21, 1985 – Gary, Indiana, United States: Two South Shore Line trains collide head-on, 85 injured.
• Image:Flag of India.svg February 23, 1985 – Rajnandgaon train fire, Madhya Pradesh, India: Over 50 people are killed when an express train catches fire.
• Image:Flag of Germany.svg March 20, 1985 – Ronnenberg, Germany: Two freight trains, one consisting of 20 tanker cars filled with petrol, the other consisting of 19 cars loaded with coal, collide in the densely populated suburb of Empelde, close to Hanover and ignite, the fire burning almost a day.
• Image:Flag of Israel (bordered).svg June 11, 1985 – Habonim disaster, Moshav Habonim, Israel: 21 people killed, including 19 school children in a collision between a bus on a school field trip and a train going from Haifa to Tel Aviv near Moshav Habonim.
• Image:Flag of India.svg June 13, 1985 – Agra rail disaster, Argra, India: 38 people are killed in a collision.
• Image:Flag of Portugal.svg September 11, 1985 – Mangualde, Portugal: The Sud Express linking Lisbon and Paris collides with a regional train near Mangualde, Portugal. The blaze and the lack of a passenger list puts the death toll around one hundred victims.

[edit] 1986

• Image:Flag of Canada.svg February 8, 1986 – Hinton train collision, Dalehurst, Alberta, Canada: 23 lives lost when VIA Rail passenger train and CN freight train collide head-on. This led to the adoption of stricter crew scheduling practice and a complete rewrite of the operating rules.
• Image:Flag of India.svg March 10, 1986 – Khagaria rail disaster, over 50 people are killed in a collision in Bihar.
• Image:Flag of India.svg August 6, 1986 – Palamau rail disaster, 52 people drown when a train falls into a deep ditch after a collision.

[edit] 1987

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg January 4, 1987 – Chase, Maryland rail wreck, Chase, Maryland, United States: The Amtrak Colonial collides with a set of Conrail freight locomotives that had missed a stop signal and were fouling the Northeast Corridor mainline at Gunpow Interlocking. The northbound passenger consist derails, killing 16 passengers, the lounge car attendant, and the Amtrak engineer The freight crew had been smoking marijuana; this notorious accident caused the US railroad industry to tighten up drug use detection among operational personnel.
• Image:Flag of India.svg July 8, 1987 - Machieral rail disaster, 53 people killed in the derailment of a train in Andhra Pradesh.
• Image:Flag of Sweden.svg November 16, 1987 – Lerum, near Gothenburg, Sweden: Two passenger trains collide at a station. 9 killed, 140 injured.

[edit] 1988

• Image:Flag of East Germany.svg January 19, 1988 – Forst Zinna, East Germany: A Soviet tank gets stuck on a level crossing and gets hit by an express train. 6 die, 33 are injured.
• Image:Flag of Denmark.svg April 25, 1988 – Sorø train accident, Denmark: 8 people die and 72 are injured as an intercity train derails in a switch in Sorø due to excessive speed.
• Image:Flag of France.svg June 27, 1988 – Gare de Lyon train accident, Gare de Lyon, France: Runaway train hits stationary rush-hour train in station, 56 killed, over 50 injured.
• Image:Flag of India.svg July 8, 1988 - Ashtamudi Lake rail disaster, passenger train falls in the lake after derailing, 107 people drowned.
• Image:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg August 16, 1988 - A high-speed train traveling from Leningrad to Moscow derails near Bologoye, killing 30 people and injuring about 180. <ref> Vokrug Sveta article (in Russian) </ref>

• Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg December 12, 1988 – Clapham Junction rail crash, London, England: wrong side failure from electrical short circuit caused by faulty signal maintenance, 35 dead, more than 100 injured.

[edit] 1989

Image:Cajon Pass cover.jpg

• Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg 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.
• Image:Flag of India.svg April 18, 1989 – Lalitpur rail disaster, Uttar Praadesh, India: 75 killed when train derails.
• Image:Flag of Mexico.svg May 4, 1989 – Tepic, Mexico: 20-52 (depending on reports) are killed after train's brakes fail while descending a mountain side; the locomotive and three passenger cars flip on a curve and plunge down the ravine.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg May 12, 1989 – San Bernardino train disaster, San Bernardino, California: A Southern Pacific Railroad freight train derails on Duffy Street on the very steep Cajon Pass, killing both crew members and 2 children, ages 7 and 9. Eleven homes were severely damaged or completely destroyed in the accident. Thirteen days later fuel leaking from a pipe line damaged in the accident ignites, killing 2 people and causing further damage to homes.
• Image:Flag of Russia (bordered).svg June 4, 1989 – Ufa train disaster, Russia: 575 are killed and over 600 wounded when two trains pass near a leaking natural gas line which explodes.
• Image:Flag of India.svg 1989 – Quilon Lake rail disaster, India: A train falls off a bridge and into a lake, killing 107. Officials claimed 'freak typhoon' caused the crash, despite meteorological assertions to the contrary.

[edit] 1990s

[edit] 1990

• Image:Flag of Pakistan.svg January 4, 1990 – Sindh province, Pakistan: An overcrowded passenger train collides with a stationary freight train. Over 210 killed.
• Image:Flag of Germany.svg February 2, 1990 – Rüsselsheim, Germany: Two S-Bahn commuter trains collide, killing 17 and injuring 80.
• Image:Flag of Norway.svg April 16 1990 – Lysaker, Oslo, Norway: Two local passenger trains collide, 5 killed.
• Image:Flag of India.svg April 16 1990 – Patna rail disaster, India: 70 killed as shuttle train is gutted by fire.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg March 7 1990 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States: A bolt securing a traction motor on a SEPTA subway-elevated train fails, causing the train to derail. Four killed, 158 injured.

[edit] 1991

• Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg January 8 1991 – London, England: A passenger train hits the buffers at Cannon Street Station. 1 person killed. 542 persons injured.
• Image:Flag of Japan (bordered).svg April, 1991 – Shigaraki train disaster, Shigaraki, Shiga, Japan: 42 people were killed.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg July 31 1991 – Lugoff, South Carolina, United States: The Amtrak Silver Star derails the rear portion of its consist on the former Seaboard Air Line of the CSXT Railroad when a faulty switch moves as the train passes over it, directing a coach into a hopper car standing on a siding, and derailing the following equipment. Eight passengers die and 76 are injured.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg August 28 1991 – New York, New York: Five people are killed and more than 200 injured when a Lexington local train derails going over a switch just north of Union Square. Two subway cars split open as they strike the steel tunnel support beams. The uninjured motorman, whom passengers report had been handling the train erratically, flees the scene and is arrested later, testing out as legally drunk. This accident, coupled with the Amtrak Colonial wreck at Chase, Maryland on January 4, 1987, is instrumental in driving new federal rules for engineer certification and toxicology.
• Image:Flag of France.svg October, 1991 – Melun, France. A freight train overruns a closed signal, and fouls the path of the Nice-Paris night train. 16 people are killed. The accident was caused by a heart attack suffered by the freight train engineer. The deadman mechanism worked perfectly, but it was too late to stop the train in time. This led to the adoption of the KVB automatic train control system which will detect improper train handling.

[edit] 1992

• Image:Flag of Sweden.svg March 12, 1992 – Gothenburg, Sweden: A tram rolls backwards down a hill without control and derails near the bottom. There it glides sideways in a high speed into a tram stop where people are waiting. 13 killed, many injured.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg June 30, 1992 – near Superior, Wisconsin, United States: A Burlington Northern freight train transporting benzene encounters fatigued tracks and derails, plunging 3 tank cars off a trestle and into the Nemadji River. One of the cars ruptures, spilling 79 500 L (21,000 US gallons) of chemicals into the river, which are then carried into Lake Superior, forming a toxic cloud over Superior and Duluth, Minnesota. 40,000 area residents are evacuated; many suffer long-term health problems, and the damage to the surrounding environment is considerable.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg August 12 1992 – just outside Newport News, Virginia, United States: Amtrak's Colonial passenger train, traveling at nearly 80 mph, enters a switch that had just moments before been opened by a pair of teenaged saboteurs. Though there are no fatalities, dozens are injured. 60 of the passengers subsequently sue Amtrak and CSX (who owned the right-of-way) for negligence, but the case is decided in favor of the railroad companies as it was determined that there was no way for the train crew to prevent the incident. The two teens are sentenced to federal prison terms for the crime.
• Image:Flag of the Netherlands.svg November, 1992 – Hoofddorp, Netherlands: An Intercity train, travelling from Amsterdam to Vlissingen derailed near Hoofddorp. Five people died, 33 were injured.

[edit] 1993

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg January 18, 1993 – Gary, Indiana, United States: The eastbound Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District train number 7 runs a red signal and is hit by westbound train number 12; 7 passengers die, scores are injured in the accident.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg March 17, 1993 – near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, United States: An Amtrak passenger train strikes a gasoline tanker truck that has stopped on a grade crossing, causing the tanker to explode. Six people (including the truck driver) are killed and 12 injured. The dining car stops in the center of the fire and is totalled.
• Image:Flag of South Korea (bordered).svg March 28, 1993 – Busan train disaster, Busan, South Korea: An express train derailed and 79 people were killed.
• Image:Flag of India.svg May 3, 1993 – Chhabra rail disaster, 71 people die in a collision between two trains at Chhabra in Rajasthan.
• Image:Flag of Spain.svg August 2, 1993 – Vega de Anzo, Spain a crash in a tunnel at kills 12.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg September 22, 1993 – Big Bayou Canot train disaster, Alabama, United States: A towboat collides with a piling and causes a bridge to shift out of alignment, creating a kink in the rails on the CSXT's former Louisville & Nashville Gulfcoast line. Minutes later, Amtrak's Sunset Limited, just out of Mobile, Alabama, strikes the bad gauge, plunging the train into the water. 47 people are killed in Amtrak's deadliest accident.
• Image:Flag of Norway.svg October 3, 1993 – Nordstrand, Oslo, Norway: A local train collides with a shunting locomotive. 5 killed.
• Image:Flag of Kenya.svg 1993 – Ngai Ndethya, Kenya: 114 killed in a Mombasa-bound passenger train which plunged into a river after floods wash away a bridge.

[edit] 1994

• Image:Flag of Scotland.svg / Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg 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. Vandalism starts to be noticed as a U.K. wide criminal phenomenon from the mid 1990s onwards.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg August 4 1994 – Batavia, New York, United States: Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited passenger train derails while traveling at 75 mph (120 km/h), injuring 125 of the train's passengers and crew members.
• Image:Flag of Angola.svg September 22 1994 – Damaged brakes make a train crash into a canyon in Tolunda, Angola. 300 killed.

• Image:Flag of Hungary.svg December 2 1994 – Szajol, Hungary: InterCity train traveling at 65 mph (105 km/h) derails and crashes into the railway station's building, killing 31 passengers and injuring many people.

[edit] 1995

• Image:Flag of India.svg May 3 1995 – Nalgonda rail disaster, 35 people are killed in a collision with a tractor in Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh.
• Image:Flag of India.svg May 14 1995 – Salem rail disaster, Over 50 people are killed in a collision at Salem on the Madras route.
• Image:Flag of Canada.svg August 11 1995 – Russell Hill Subway accident, Toronto, Ontario: A subway collides with a stationary train when a driver misinterprets a signal. 3 are killed, and 30 injured.
• Image:Flag of India.svg August 20 1995 – Firozabad rail disaster, India. A passenger train collides with another train that had stopped after it had run over a cow in Firozabad, India. 358 people are killed.

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg October 9 1995 – Palo Verde derailment, Arizona, United States: One crewman is killed and 78 passengers are injured when an Amtrak passenger train en route to Los Angeles is derailed by saboteurs. To date, the person(s) responsible for the derailment have not been found.

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg October 25, 1995 – Fox River Grove level crossing accident, Illinois, United States: A school bus caught between a railroad crossing and a red traffic light is hit by a Metra commuter train, killing seven students.
• Image:Flag of Azerbaijan.svg October 28 1995 - Baku, Azerbaijan – World's deadliest metro disaster. In Baku, an underground metro train catches fire during Saturday evening rush hour. 337 people are killed.
• Image:Flag of Germany.svg December 12 1995 - Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany – The last of the DRG Class ET 91, a German class of electric multiple units from the 1930s, crashes with the ÖBB 1044 235 electric locomotive in the station of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, resulting in one fatal casualty and 46 injured.

[edit] 1996

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg February 9, 1996 – Secaucus, New Jersey, United States: New Jersey Transit Train 1254 traveling to Hoboken Terminal via the Bergen County Line runs a red signal a few hundred feet east of where the Secaucus Junction Station is currently located and slams into NJT Train 1107 traveling to Suffern, New York via the NJT Main Line. Both engineers and a passenger on Train 1254 are killed.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg February 16, 1996 – Silver Spring, Maryland, United States: The engineer of a MARC commuter train bound for Washington Union Station, either misses or ignores a stop signal and collides with outgoing Amtrak train no. 29, the westbound Capitol Limited. The crash left 11 people dead aboard the MARC train. <ref>[4]</ref> Three die of injuries suffered in the impact, but the rest are killed by smoke and flames, exacerbated by a natural gas tank located at trackside, which also ignites. ^{[citation needed]} This accident lead to the FRA instituting the Delay in Block Rule.

Image:WeyauwegaDerailment151259.jpg

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg 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.

• Image:Flag of Finland (bordered).svg April 21, 1996 – Passenger train operating in heavy fog derails at Jokela, Finland because of overspeeding through a slow-speed turnout. The locomotive driver and three passengers were killed, and 75 were injured.
• Image:Flag of India.svg May 14 1996 – Alappuzha level crossing crash, 35 wedding guests are killed when their bus is run down by a train in Kerala.
• Image:Flag of India.svg May 25 1996 – Varanasi level crossing crash, 25 people die in a collision with a tractor at Varanasi.
• Image:Flag of India.svg December 30 1996 – Brahmaputra Mail train bombing, 33 people are killed in deliberate explosion on a train in Assam.

[edit] 1997

• Image:Flag of India.svg April 18 1997 – Gorakhpur rail diasaster, Over 60 people are killed in a collision at Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.
• Image:Flag of India.svg July 8 1997 – Lehra Khanna Station bombing, 33 people are killed by a terrorist bomb left on a station at Lehra Khanna in the Punjab.
• Image:Flag of India.svg July 28 1997 – Faridabad train crash, 12 people die in a collision at Faridabad in the Delhi suburbs.<ref>[5]</ref>
• Image:Flag of India.svg September 14 1997 – Bilaspur rail disaster, 120 people are killed in a derailment on a bridge in Bilaspur province in Madhya Pradesh.
• Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg September 19 1997 – Southall rail crash, London, England. A passenger train collides with a freight train, killing 6.
• Image:Flag of Australia.svg October 23, 1997 – Beresfield rail disaster, Australia: coal train collides with the rear of an earlier coal train and blocks all tracks causing collisions with other trains - SPAD.
• Image:Flag of Germany.svg December 9, 1997 – Hanover, Germany: A regional train carrying more than 300 passengers collides with a freight train consisting of 20 tanker cars filled with petrol. Five of the wrecked tankers ignite and explode. More than 90 injured.<ref>Technisches Hilfswerk, OV Ronnenberg</ref>

[edit] 1998

• Image:Flag of Cameroon.svg February 15 1998 – Yaounde train explosion, Cameroon, Spilt fuel oil from a tanker train crash ignited and exploded, killing over 100 people.
• Image:Flag of Finland (bordered).svg March 6 1998 – Express passenger train derails at Jyväskylä, Finland, as a result of over-speeding while passing over a slow-speed turnout. The locomotive driver and nine passengers were killed, 94 were injured.
• Image:Flag of India.svg April 4 1998 – Fatuha train crash, Atleast 11 people die in derailment near Patna(near Fatuha station) on the Howrah-Delhi main line as Howrah-Danapur Express derails between between Fatuha and Bankaghat stations.
• Image:Flag of India.svg April 24 1998 – Parali Vaijanath train crash, 24 people die in high speed collision at a rural station in Maharashtra.
• Image:Flag of Germany.svg June 3 1998 – Eschede train disaster, Eschede, Germany: Part of a high-speed ICE train derails due to a faulty wheel rim and strikes a bridge. The bridge collapses as the third car hits its pylons, the remaining cars and the rear power unit jackknife into the pile. The first three carriages are separatated from each other and come to a halt at Eschede railway station whilst the undamaged power car continues for another two kilometres until its brakes are automatically applied. 101 are killed.
• Image:Flag of the United States.svg June 18 1998 – Burns Harbor, Indiana, United States: The westbound Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District train number 102 strikes a semi-truck that was stopped on a grade crossing. 3 passengers are killed when the truck's steel cargo smashed through the front of the train.
• Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg August 7, 1998- Three teenagers fell out of unlocked doors on express trains and died from their injuries. The first two deaths occured near Tamworth, Staffordshire, the third near Nuneaton, Warwickshire. Several other people also encountered serious faults with the unlocking of doors during the same period, but no more serious injuries resulted. These incidents lead to the Health and Safety Executive condemning ‘slam-door’ trains.
• Image:Flag of India.svg November 26 1998 – Over 150 people died in the Khanna train crash disaster, when a high speed collision at a rural station in the Punjab catches fire.

[edit] 1999

• Image:Flag of the United States.svg March 15 1999 – Bourbonnais train accident, Bourbonnais, Illinois, United States: The southbound Amtrak City of New Orleans hits a semi truck loaded with steel rebar at a grade crossing and derails; an ensuing fire sets one Superliner sleeper alight. 11 fatalities and over 100 injuries.
• Image:Flag of India.svg June 4 1999 - Kazipet train crash, Twelve are killed in a derailment at Kazipet in Andhra Pradesh.
• Image:Flag of India.svg August 2, 1999 – Gauhati rail disaster, Two express trains collide head-on in Gauhati, India. Over 285 people are killed.
• Image:Flag of England (bordered).svg October 5, 1999 – Ladbroke Grove (Paddington) rail disaster, England: Two trains collide head-on due to a signal passed at danger and smashed fuel tanks catch fire, killing 31 and injuring 400.
• Image:Flag of Greece.svg November 17, 1999 – 3 workmen using a pneumatic drill in Athens station are killed when they could not hear an approaching train from Halkida as it entered the station. 2 others later died of ther wounds. They also apparently ignored the obvious timing factors relating to when trains would be actually scheduled to use the platform in the first place. The deaths are put down as being caused by the use of sloppy work routines. Reference- [6]
• Image:Flag of Australia.svg December 3, 1999 – Glenbrook train disaster, New South Wales, Australia: Stop and Proceed rule at red signal applied with insufficient care (too much speed), killing 7.
• Image:Flag of Kenya.svg 1999 - Kenya: 32 die at Tsavo National park when brakes on a passenger train fail, forcing it to jump the rails.

[edit] See also

Rail transport
Operations
Stations
Trains
Locomotives
Rolling stock
History
Terminology
By country
Disasters
Modelling
This box: view • talk • edit</div>

• List of accidents by death toll, category "other"
• List of disasters
• List of road accidents - includes level crossing accidents.
• List of British rail accidents
• List of Russian rail accidents
• Years in rail transport

[edit] External links

• NTSB Publications – The United States National Transportation Safety Board official reports of transportation accidents.
• RSSB Publications – UK Rail Safety and Standards Board
• US accidents – CBS News

[edit] References

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