January 4 – Pakistan – Sukkur rail disaster: A Multan–KarachiBahauddin Zakaria Express collided head-on with an empty freight train at Sangi station, Sukkur, Sindh. The train was to pass through Sangi, but incorrectly set rail points directed the train to a siding where the freight train was parked. 307 people were killed and another 700 more injured in Pakistan's worst rail disaster.
May 6 – Australia – Cowan rail accident: The 3801 Limited special steam passenger train stalled while climbing a steep gradient from the Hawkesbury River to Cowan. It was then rear-ended by a CityRail inter-urban passenger train, killing six people. Sand applied to the rails interfered with track signals and gave the CityLine train a false clear indication.
August 20 – Poland – Ursus rail crash: Passenger train Silesia – from Prague to Warsaw – telescoped the last car of a passenger train from Szklarska Poręba to Warsaw, killing 16 and injuring 43.[3]
December 20 – Taiwan – A Kaohsiung-Taipei express train collided at a level crossing at Lu Chu, Kaohsiung with a bus carrying 51 farmers which burst into flames, killing 25 people, and injuring 32.[5]
January 7 – Hungary – Tram No. 1342 (Ganz bendytram) operated by BKV derailed and overturned in Budapest at the corner of Vajda Péter utca and Orczy út due to an unintentional point switching by the tram driver, killing three passengers and a pedestrian.[6]
May 14 – Japan – Shigaraki train disaster, Shigaraki, Shiga: A Shigaraki Kōgen Railway (SKR) passenger train collided head-on with a JR West passenger train after the SKR train passed a red signal, killing 42 people. A malfunctioning signal gave the JR West train a green signal, when the approaching SKR train should have turned the signal to red. Confusion among SKR staff stemming from the signal problems prompted them to send the train against a red signal.[8]
July 15 – United States – Dunsmuir, California – California's largest hazardous chemical spill: A 19,000-gallon (72,000 L) tank car containing the pesticide/herbicide metam sodium derailed from a Southern Pacific freight train and tumbled off the bridge over the Sacramento River at the Cantara Loop before rupturing on the rocks below, spilling the car's entire load into the river. Virtually every aquatic organism on a 40-mile (64 km) stretch of river was killed.[9]
July 21 – United Kingdom – Glasgow: Newton rail accident killed four and injured 22. Junction layout was cited as a contributing factor.
July 29 – United States – Seacliff, California: A Southern Pacific freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in the Ventura County coastal community of Seacliff. Four of the 14 railroad cars that derailed were carrying two types of chemicals: a half-strength aqueous hydrazine solution used to make agricultural, metal plating, plastics and photo processing chemicals; and naphthalene, an industrial solvent for making other chemicals.[10]
July 31 – United States – Lugoff, South Carolina: The AmtrakSilver Star derailed the rear portion of a former Seaboard Air Line of the CSXT Railroad after a faulty switch split as the train passed over it, directing a coach into a hopper car standing on a siding, and derailing equipment. Eight passengers died and 76 were injured.[11]
August 5 – Canada – Kinsella, Alberta: A CN intermodal train struck a truck carrying light crude oil at a marked highway crossing. The impact ignited the oil and significantly damaged the train, killing the three train crew members and the truck driver.[12]
August 28 – United States – New York City: 1991 Union Square derailment - Five people were killed and more than 200 injured after a #4 Lexington Avenue express train derailed over a switch just north of Union Square. Two subway cars broke open as they struck the steel tunnel support beams. The uninjured motorman, who was reported to have been handling the train erratically, was later found to be legally drunk. The accident was instrumental in imposing new federal rules for engineer certification and toxicology testing.[13]
October 16 – France – . A freight train overran a closed signal after its engineer suffered a heart attack, and fouled the path of the Nice-Paris night train at Melun, killing 16 people. The deadman mechanism worked normally but failed to stop the train in time. This led to the adoption of the KVB automatic train control system.[15]
November 15 – Taiwan – 1991 Miaoli train collision - A northbound Tze-Chiang Train ran over the stop signal and rear-ended a southbound Chukuang train, killing 30 people and injuring 112.[16]
March 3 – Russia – Podsosenka train disaster: Yurmala passenger train No. 004 ran a red light at a restrictive signal and collided head-on with oncoming freight train No. 3455 before catching fire, killing 43 people and injuring 108.
March 12 – Sweden – 1992 Gothenburg tram accident. An unmanned tram rolled down a street in central Gothenburg at high speed and crashed into waiting passengers at a tram stop at Vasaplatsen, killing 13 people.
August 8 – Switzerland – A train and a tram collided at Zurich, killing one person and injuring nine.[1]
April 29 – United States – at Bell King Road in Newport News, Virginia, a crossing without gates or warning lights, Amtrak's Colonial passenger train collided with a dump truck, killing the truck driver and injuring 54 passengers.[17][18]
August 12 – United States – Just outside Newport News, Virginia, Amtrak's Colonial passenger train, traveling at nearly 80 mph (130 km/h), entered a switch that had just moments before been opened by a pair of saboteurs, injuring dozens. The saboteurs, Coast Guardsmen Joseph Loomis and Raymond Bornman Jr., were sentenced to federal prison terms.[20]
October 11 – China – Liaoning, Fushun – Two locomotives of the Shenyang Railway Bureau Meihekou locomotive depot were reconnected to pull a freight train through the Shenyang-Jilin Railway on approach to Shimenling railway station and prepare to stop a passenger train from Tianjin railway station to Jilin railway station. Because one of the corner cock of the train was closed, the brake failed. To avoid a collision, the freight train derailed and overturned after entering the safety siding of Shimenling railway station, killing four locomotive attendants.[22]
November 15 – Germany – 11 people died and 52 were injured after the wreckage of a derailed freight train was hit by an express train near Northeim.[23]
Hoofddorp November 30 – Netherlands – Hoofddorp train accident: An Intercity train, travelling from Amsterdam to Vlissingen derailed near Hoofddorp, killing five people and injuring 33.
March 28 – South Korea – a Mugunghwa-ho train in the vicinity of Gupo station in Busan rolled over due to subsidence under a section of track caused by nearby construction, killing 78 people and injuring 198, making it the worst rail accident in South Korea.[25]
September 22 – United States – Big Bayou Canot rail accident, near Mobile, Alabama: Barges being pushed by an off-course towboat collided with a bridge piling; the bridge shifted out of alignment, creating a kink in the rails on the CSXT's former Louisville & NashvilleGulfcoast line. Minutes later, Amtrak's Sunset Limited derailed at high speed on the misaligned track and plunges into the water, causing an enormous fuel spill and fire that killed 47 people in Amtrak's deadliest accident.
November 2 - Indonesia - 20 people were killed and 200 people were injured after 2 commuter train collided head-on in Ratujaya, near Depok.[26]
November 11 – United States – near Kelso, Washington: A Union Pacific and a Burlington Northern freight train collided head-on after the Burlington Northern train had failed to stop for a red signal, likely due to dense fog, killing the five crew members on board both trains. Due to this, the two railroads implemented new safety features called "Precision Train Control" (an ancestor to the later federally mandated, Positive Train Control) on 750 miles (1200 km) of UP and BN track.[27]
February 8 - Georgia - A head-on collision between two passenger trains kills three engine drivers.[29]
March 8 – Switzerland – a freight train derailed at Zurich. A tank wagon carrying petrol exploded, injuring three people.[1]
March 9 – South Africa – A commuter train derailed in a suburb of Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, killing at least 63 people and injuring 370 in one of South Africa's deadliest rail disasters.
March 21 – Switzerland – The side of a passenger train from Brig to Romanshorn was ripped out by a crane wagon at Däniken, killing nine people.[1]
May 16 – United States – Amtrak's Silver Meteor passenger train, bound from New York to Florida, derailed near Selma, North Carolina after hitting a cargo container jutting out from a passing freight. The Amtrak engineer was killed and nearly 100 passengers were injured.[30]
June 25 – United Kingdom – Greenock rail crash, Scotland: Two people were killed after a train struck concrete blocks placed on the track by vandals.
August 3 – United States – The Lake Shore Limited, operated by Amtrak, derailed on Conrail tracks in Batavia, New York. 108 passengers and 10 crew members were injured. Cars 8–12 on the consist fell down an embankment.[citation needed]
September 22 – Angola – 1994 Tolunda rail disaster – Faulty brakes cause the derailment of a train in Tolunda. The train plunged into a ravine, killing 300 people.[31]
September 29 – Germany – Two passenger trains collided head-on near Bad Bramstedt, killing six people and injuring 67.[23]
October 15 – United Kingdom – Cowden rail crash – Two trains collided head-on in Cowden, Kent, after a driver ran through a red signal; killing five people and injuring 12.
November 20 – Canada – VIA Rail train No. 66, travelling eastward at approximately 155 km/h (96 mph), struck a piece of rail intentionally placed on the track at the CN North America (CN) Kingston Subdivision, in Brighton, Ontario. The piece of rail punctured a locomotive fuel tank and severed electrical power cables creating electrical arcing which ignited the leaking fuel. A fire erupted and the trailing portion of the locomotive and the first two-passenger cars behind the locomotive became engulfed in flames. 46 passengers were injured.[32]
December 2 – Hungary – Szajol – A train going to Budapest derailed after passing through a false switch at 110 km/h.[citation needed] It collided with a station building, killing 31 people and injuring 52. It was the second-worst rail incident in post-World War II Hungary.
December 14 – United States - San Bernardino, California – A Santa Fe intermodal freight train rear-ended a parked Union Pacific coal train at the Cajon Pass due to a kink in the air hose that triggered the brakes, injuring two crewmembers who were forced to jump from their runaway train going 50 mph (80 km/h).[citation needed]
January 31 – United Kingdom – 1995 Ais Gill rail accident: A diesel multiple unit ran into a landslip at Ais Gill, Cumbria and was derailed. Another diesel multiple unit then collided with it. One person was killed and 30 were injured.
May 10 – South Africa – Vaal Reefs Tragedy: A mine locomotive operating 1,700 m (5,600 ft) below ground fell into an elevator shaft. It struck the "detaching hook", separating the cable from the double-deck elevator car, which ffell a further 600 m (2,000 ft). All 104 miners on board were killed.[33][34] It is history's worst elevator accident.
June 24 – Czech Republic – Krouna train accident: Four runaway carriages smashed into a passenger train. 19 people were killed, only four passengers survived.
July 10 – United States – Canadian Pacific 2317: Dunmore, Pennsylvania. A Steamtown-owned steam locomotive, Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 Number 2317, en route from Moscow to Scranton struck and killed two young boys who were trying to pry one of their jammed ATVs from the tracks.[37]
July 11 - United Kingdom - Largs, Scotland - A train collided with a buffer and hit a ticket office, injuring four people.[38]
August 11 – Canada – 1995 Russell Hill subway accident, Toronto: A subway train collided with the stationary train ahead after a driver misinterpreted a signal and the automatic train stop failed. Three people were killed, and 30 injured.
August 20 – India – Firozabad rail disaster. A passenger train collided with another train that had stopped after it had run over a cow in Firozabad, killing 358 people.
October 9 – United States – Palo Verde, Arizona Derailment, Palo Verde, Arizona: Unidentified saboteurs shifted a rail out of alignment after attaching a jumper circuit, keeping the signalling circuit closed. Amtrak's Sunset Limited subsequently derailed, plunging four cars into a dry riverbed killing one and injuring 78 people, 12 seriously.
October 24 - Indonesia - In Kadipaten, Tasikmalaya, two merged trains loses brake, crashed and fell into a ravine in the Trowek area (now around Cirahayu station), killing dozens and injuring hundreds more.[39]
October 25 – United States – 1995 Fox River Grove bus–train collision: A school bus caught between a railroad crossing and a red traffic light is hit by a Metra commuter train, killing seven students.
October 28 – Azerbaijan – 1995 Baku Metro fire: A Baku Metro subway train caught fire between Ulduz and Nariman Narimanov stations during evening rush hour. 289 people were killed and 265 injured. An electrical fault was blamed, but sabotage was not ruled out. The accident remains the deadliest subway disaster to date.
December 21 – Egypt – A Cairo-Beni Sueif passenger train and Cairo-Aswan passenger train collided in dense fog in Badrasheen railroad station, killing 75 people and injuring 150.[41]
December 25 – Spain – Jaén: An express from Barcelona to Seville via Málaga derailed at a bridge over the 50 m (160 ft) deep Despeñaperros canyon. The locomotive came to rest in a near-vertical position leaning against the bridge, but remained coupled to the first car, suspending the car's forward end above the bridge. The two enginemen were killed.[42][43]
January 14 - Australia - Hines Hill train collision: two trains entered a passing loop from opposite directions after one of them passed a signal at danger. The engineer of one of the trains, along with one passenger, were killed.[44]
February 1 – United States – Cajon Pass, San Bernardino County, California: An AT&SF freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed due to failed brakes in the steep pass, killing two crewmen, injuring the engineer, and shutting down Interstate 15 for several days due to a cloud of noxious fumes.[45]
February 14 - United States - St. Paul, Minnesota - A BNSF freight train slammed into two parked SOO Line locomotives, and a parked Canadian Pacific freight train in the St. Paul Railyard due to a kink in the air hose that prevented the brakes from being applied. 44 cars and six locomotives derailed, while nine workers were injured, and an office building was destroyed.[46]
February 16 – United States – 1996 Maryland train collision: A MARC commuter train bound for Washington Union Station, collided with outbound Amtrak train no. 29, the westbound Capitol Limited after the MARC crew apparently forgot an approach signal and failed to reduce speed, killings three crew and eight passengers aboard the MARC train.[47] Eight of the dead were killed by smoke and flames possibly ignited by oil pot switch heaters. This led to the FRA instituting the Delay in Block Rule, and also was a major impetus for the Passenger Equipment Safety Standards regulation (49 CFR Part 238).
March 8 – United Kingdom – 1996 Stafford rail crash: A freight train derailed due to an axle failure and was then struck by a Travelling Post Office train, killing one person and injuring 22.
April 18 – India – Gorakhpur– A Gonda passenger train crashed into a stationary freight train at Domingarh station, killing at least 60.[48]
April 21 – Finland – Jokela rail accident: A passenger train operating in heavy fog derailed at Jokela after overspeeding through a slow-speed turnout. The locomotive driver and three passengers were killed, and 75 were injured.
July 2 – Ukraine – 1996 Dniprodzerzhynsk tram accident: An overcrowded tram car derailed and crashed through a concrete wall after its brakes failed while going down a steep hill, killing 34 people and injuring over 100.[49]
August 8 – United Kingdom – Watford rail crash: An electric multiple unit overran a signal at Watford Junction and stopped foul of a junction before being hit head-on by an electric multiple unit, killing one person and injuring 69.
September 16 – Switzerland – A passenger train collided with a locomotive at Courfaivre after passing a signal at danger, injuring 30 people.[1]
September 26 – Russia – A level crossing collision of a diesel locomotive into a school bus between Bataysk and Salsk in Rostov Oblast killed 19 people, including 18 children.[50]
January 12 – Italy – A Pendolino train derailed due to excessive speed just before Piacenza station, killing eight people and injuring 29 others.[51][52][53]
March 3 – Pakistan – Five coaches of a Karachi-bound train from Peshawar overturned near Khanewal after the train's brakes failed and it was driven onto a runaway track, killing 110 people and injuring 150.[54]
July 28 – India – 12 people died in a collision at Faridabad in the Delhi suburbs.[55]
September 8 - France - A passenger train collided with a fuel tanker on a level crossing at Port-Sainte-Foy, Dordogne, killing 13 people and injuring over 40. This remains France's worst ever level crossing accident.[57]
September 19 – United Kingdom – Southall rail crash, London: An inter-city train failed to stop at a red signal due to driver distraction and collided with a freight train crossing its path, killing seven people and injuring 139.
November 13 – Switzerland – Two passenger trains collided at Appenzell after one of them passed a signal at danger, injuring 17 people.[1]
December 9 – Germany – Hanover: A regional train collided with a freight train carrying petrol. Five of the wrecked tankers ignited and exploded. More than 90 people were injured.[60]
February 15 – Cameroon – Yaoundé train explosion: Spilt fuel oil from a tanker train crash ignited and exploded, killing more than 100 people.
The Jyväskylä derailment
March 6 – Finland – Jyväskylä rail accident: An express passenger train derailed at Jyväskylä after overspeeding while passing over a slow-speed turnout. The locomotive driver and nine passengers were killed, 94 people were injured.
April 4 – India – Fatuha train crash: At least 11 people died near Patna (near Fatuha station) on the Howrah-Delhi main line after the Howrah-Danapur Express derailed.
June 3 – Germany – Eschede train disaster: Part of a high-speed ICE train derailed at Eschede and strikes a bridge due to a faulty wheel rim. The bridge collapsed as the third car hit its pylons, the remaining cars and the rear power unit jackknifed into the pile. The first three carriages were separated from each other and came to a halt at Eschede railway station while the undamaged power car continued for another two kilometres until its brakes were automatically applied. 101 people were killed in the world's worst ever high-speed rail disaster.
October 18 – Egypt – An Alexandria–Cairo passenger train crashed at Kafr el-Dawar station, Nile Delta, after its driver exceeded the speed limit, killing 47 people and injuring 104=.[61]
November 26 – India – Khanna rail disaster: The Sealdah express rammed into three cars of derailed carriages of Golden Temple mail bound for Amritsar at Khanna station, on the outskirts of Ludhiana, Punjab, at least 212 people were killed.[62]
The Bourbonnais derailmentThe Wuppertal monorail derailment
March 15 – United States – 1999 Bourbonnais, Illinois, train crash: The AmtrakCity of New Orleans, traveling at approximately 80 miles per hour (130 km/h), slammed into a semi-trailer truck loaded with steel concrete reinforcing bar (rebar) at a grade crossing and derails. An ensuing fire set one Superliner sleeper car ablaze. Eleven people were killed and over 100 were injured. It was subsequently determined that the truck driver had ignored the grade crossing signals and driven around the lowered gates.
April 12 – Germany – 1999 Wuppertal Schwebebahn accident: In Wuppertal, workers doing overnight maintenance on the Schwebebahn forgot to unscrew a metal clamp from the elevated monorail track. The first train in the morning hit it, derailed, and crashed into the river below, killing 5 passengers and injuring 47.
April 23 – Canada – VIA Rail train No. 74, encountered an unexpected reversed switch, crossed over to the south main track and derailed at Thamesville, Ontario. The derailed train collided with stationary rail cars on an adjacent yard track and all four passenger cars and the locomotive of the passenger train derailed. The two train crew members in the locomotive cab were killed.[63]
August 2 – India – Gaisal train disaster: Two express trains collided head-on, killing more than 285 people.
August 18 - Australia - ‘’’Zanthus train collision’’’, In Zanthus, Western Australia, an Indian Pacific Train crashed into an Nrc Train and derailed, injuring 21 people.[64]
October 5 – United Kingdom – Ladbroke Grove rail crash: A high-speed head-on collision between two trains occurred due to a signal passed at danger. The fuel tanks of one of the trains were destroyed and the contents were ignited by overhead power lines, causing a fireball, killing 31 people and injuring more than 520.[65][66]
November 1 – Switzerland – Two trains collided in Bern after one of them passed a signal at danger, killing two people.[1]
December 3 – Australia – Glenbrook rail accident, New South Wales: Stop and Proceed rule at red signal applied with insufficient care (too much speed), killing seven.
December 30 – Canada – Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Quebec: Several tank cars filled with gasoline and heating oil from the CN freight train 703 travelling westward derailed as it was passing the CN freight train 306, travelling in the opposite direction on a parallel track. Train 306 hit the derailed cars, which exploded on impact, killing the engineer and the conductor of the 306 and starting a fire which burned 2.7 million liters of oil and forced the evacuation of 350 families within a 2-kilometer radius over the next four days.[67]
^Hong, K. P. (May 15, 1991). "42 Killed in Head-On Japanese Train Crash; Officials Say Collision May Have Been Caused by Malfunctioning Track Signal." The Washington Post.
^Fehr, Stephen C.; Henderson, Neil (August 1, 1991). "8 Die in S. Carolina Amtrak Crash; Scores Hurt as Passenger Train Jumps Track, Sideswipes Freight Cars." The Washington Post.
Haine, Edgar A. (1993). Railroad wrecks. Associated University Presses. ISBN978-0-8453-4844-4.
Rolt, L. T. C.; Kichenside, G. M. (1982). Red for Danger: A history of railway accidents and railway safety (4th ed.). Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN0-7153-8362-0. OCLC9526651.
Shaw, Robert B. (1978). A History of Railroad Accidents, Safety Precautions and Operating Practices. LCCN78104064.
Earnshaw, Alan (1993). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 8. Penryn: Atlantic Books. ISBN0-906899-52-4.
Kichenside, Geoffrey (1997). Great Train Disasters. Bristol: Paragon. ISBN0-7525-2229-9.
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