While trains are convenient for travel and for transporting goods, they have become a greater danger over the years as their speed has increased. Sometimes railroad accidents are caused by human error, but other causes include derailment, explosions on board, and bridge collapses.
NOTE: Very few passengers were killed in a single
U.S. train wreck up until 1853. The early trains ran slowly and made
short trips, night travel was rare, and there were not many of them in
operation.
1831
June 17, nr. Charleston, S.C.: boiler exploded on
America's first passenger locomotive, The Best Friend of
Charleston, injuring the fireman and the engineer.
1833
Nov. 8, nr. Heightstown, N.J.: world's first train
wreck and first passenger fatalities recorded. A 24-passenger Camden
& Amboy train derailed due to a broken axle, killing 2 passengers
and injuring all others. Former president John Quincy Adams and
Cornelius Vanderbilt, who later made a fortune in railroads, were
aboard.
1853
May 6, Norwalk, Conn.: New Haven Railroad train ran
through an open drawbridge and plunged into the Norwalk River. 46
passengers were crushed to death or drowned. This was the first major
drawbridge accident.
1856
July 17, Camp Hill, nr. Ft. Washington, Pa.: 2
Northern Penn trains crashed head-on. Approximately 50–60 people
died, mostly children on their way to a Sunday school picnic.
1876
Dec. 29, Ashtabula, Ohio: Lake Shore train fell
into the Ashtabula River when the bridge it was crossing collapsedduring
a snowstorm; 92 people were killed.
1887
Aug. 10, nr. Chatsworth, Ill.: a burning railroad
trestle collapsed while a Toledo, Peoria & Western train was
crossing, killing 81 and injuring 372.
1904
Aug. 7, Eden, Colo.: train derailed on bridge
during flash flood; 96 killed.
1910
March 1, Wellington, Wash.: 2 trains swept into
canyon by avalanche; 96 dead.
1915
May 22, Quintinshill, Scotland: 2 passenger trains
and troop train collided at Quintinshill near Gretna Green; 227
killed.
1917
Dec. 12, Modane, France: nearly 550 killed in
derailment of troop train near mouth of Mt. Cenis tunnel.
1918
July 9, Nashville, Tenn.: 101 killed in a 2-train
collision near Nashville.
Nov. 1, New York City: derailment of subway train
in Malbone St. tunnel in Brooklyn left 92 dead.
1926
March 14, Virilla River Canyon, Costa Rica: an
overcrowded train carrying pilgrims derailed while crossing the Colima
Bridge, killing over 300 people and injuring hundreds more.
1939
Dec. 22, nr. Magdeburg, Germany: more than 125
killed in collision; 99 killed in another wreck near
Friedrichshafen.
1943
Dec. 16, nr. Rennert, N.C.: 72 killed in derailment
and collision of 2 Atlantic Coast Line trains.
1944
March 2, nr. Salerno, Italy: 521 suffocated when
Italian train stalled in tunnel.
1949
Oct. 22, nr. Nowy Dwor, Poland: more than 200
reported killed in derailment of Danzig-Warsaw express.
1950
Nov. 22, Richmond Hill, N.Y.: 79 died when one Long
Island Railroad commuter train crashed into rear of another.
1951
Feb. 6, Woodbridge, N.J.: 85 died when Pennsylvania
Railroad commuter train plunged through temporary overpass.
May 3, nr. Tokyo: 163 killed and 400 injured when
train crashed into wreckage of collision between inbound freight train
and outbound commuter train.
1963
Nov. 9, nr. Yokohama, Japan: 2 passenger trains
crashed into derailed freight train, killing 162.
1964
July 26, Custoias, Portugal: passenger train
derailed; 94 dead.
1970
Feb. 4, nr. Buenos Aires: 236 killed when express
train crashed into standing commuter train.
1972
July 21, Seville, Spain: head-on crash of two
passenger trains killed 76.
1972
Oct. 6, nr. Saltillo, Mexico: train carrying
religious pilgrims derailed and caught fire, killing 204 and injuring
over 1,000.
Oct. 30, Chicago: 2 Illinois Central commuter
trains collided during morning rush hour; 45 dead and over 200
injured.
1974
Aug. 30, Zagreb, Yugoslavia: train entering station
derailed, killing 153 and injuring over 60.
1981
June 6, nr. Mansi, India: driver of train carrying
over 500 passengers braked to avoid hitting a cow, causing train to
plunge off a bridge into the Baghmati River; 268 passengers were
reported killed, but at least 300 more were missing.
1982
July 11, Tepic, Mexico: Nogales-Guadalajara train
plunged down mountain gorge, killing 120.
1989
Jan. 15, Maizdi Khan, Bangladesh: train carrying
Muslim pilgrims crashed head-on with a mail train, killing at least 110
people and injuring as many as 1,000. Many people were riding on the
roof of the trains and between the cars.
June 3, Ural Mountains: gas exploded beneath 2
trains, killing 575.
Aug. 10, nr. Los Mochis, Mexico: a passenger train
traveling from Mazatlán to Mexicali plunged off a bridge at
Puente del Rio Bamoa, killing an estimated 85 people and injuring
107.
1990
Jan. 4, Sangi village, Sindh province, Pakistan:
overcrowded 16-car passenger train rammed into a standing freight train.
At least 210 people were killed and 700 were believed injured in what is
said to be Pakistan's worst train disaster.
1993
Sept. 22, nr. Mobile, Ala.: Amtrak's Sunset
Limited, en route to Miami, jumped rails on weakened bridge and
plunged into Big Bayou Canot, killing 47 people.
1995
Aug. 20, Firozabad, northern India: a speeding
passenger train rammed another train that was stalled, killing 358.
1997
March 3, Punjab province, Pakistan: passenger train
crashed due to failed brakes, killing 119 and injuring at least 80
people.
1998
June 3, nr. Eschede, Germany: Inter City Express
passenger train traveling at 125 mph crashed into support pier of
overpass, killing 98. It is nation's worst train accident since
WWII.Crash may have been caused by a defective wheel.
1999
Aug. 2, Calcutta, India: 2 trains collided north of
Calcutta, killing at least 285.
Oct. 5, London: outbound Thames commuter train
passed a red signal near Paddington Station and collided with
London-bound Great Western express, killing 31 people and injuring
245.
2002
Feb. 20, nr. Ayyat, Egypt: 361 killed in fire after
gas cylinder used for cooking exploded aboard crowded passenger train.
Egypt's worst train disaster.
May 25, Muamba, Mozambique: 192 died and dozens
more injured when passenger cars rolled for several miles at top speed
into freight cars from which they had been disconnected because of
mechanical problems.
June 24, nr. Msagali, central Tanzania: runaway
passenger train collided with freight train on same track, leaving 200
dead.
2004
Feb. 18, Neishabour, Iran: runaway rail cars,
loaded with fertilizer, petrol, and sulfur products, rolled 31 mi down
the rails, caught fire, and exploded, killing more than 320 and
devastating 5 villages.
Mar, 11, Madrid, Spain: Spain's most horrific
terrorist attack: 191 people were killed and 1,400 were injured in
bombings at Madrid's railway station. A Moroccan affiliate of al-Qaeda
claimed responsibility.
April 22, Ryongchon, North Korea: 2 trains carrying
flammable liquids collided, causing a huge explosion near the Chinese
border, killing at least 161 and injuring more than 1,300.
2005
April 25, Osaka, Japan: commuter train derailed and
hit an apartment building near Osaka, killing at least 107 and injuring
460. It was the worst Japanese train accident since 1963. The accident
was allegedly caused by the driver trying to get the train back on
schedule.
July 13, Ghotki, Pakistan: 3 trains collided near
Ghotki as the Karachi Express driver misread a signal and rammed the
Quetta Express. Derailed carriages were then hit by a third train. At
least 133 are killed.
2006
Jan. 23, Bioce, Montenegro: a train derailed and
plunged into the Moraca canyon, killing 46 and injuring 19.
July 11, Mumbai, India: a series of bombs exploded
on commuter trains in Mumbai during the evening rush hour, killing at
least 200 people.
2007
Aug. 1, Benaleka, Congo: a passenger train running
between Ilebo and Kananga derailed after the brakes failed, killing
about 100 people.
