Train disaster - Definition and Overview

Notable historic train accidents:

1830s

• September 15, 1830 – 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 – 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.

1860s

• June 9, 1865 – Staplehurst, United Kingdom: 10 killed, 49 injured, Charles Dickens is amongst the survivors.

1870s

• September 10 1874 – Norwich (Norfolk, United Kingdom) disaster - 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: 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 159 souls onboard, 64 people were injured and 92 people were killed.
• 28 December 1879 – The Tay Rail Bridge, Scotland, 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 – derailment at Gare Montparnasse in Paris, express train overran buffer stop and crossed more than 30 metres of concorse before plummetting through a window.

1900s

• August 1903 fire on Paris Metro spreads through incompetance - 84 killed

• 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. 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, Indiana: An empty troop train collides with a parked circus train. 86 killed, 127 injured.
• July 9, 1918 – Great train wreck of 1918, Nashville, Tennessee: 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: A subway train derails on sharp curve in a tunnel killing 97 and injuring over 100.

1940s

• June 4, 1943 – Hyde railway accident, New Zealand: Train derails at speed in a curved cutting, 21 killed, 47 injured.
• July 6, 1944 – Troop train crash near Jellico, Tennessee. Passenger train derails due to excessive speed on defective track. 35 killed, 99 injured; all soldiers in U.S. Army enroute to deployment.

1950s

• October 8, 1952 – Harrow rail crash, United Kingdom: Three trains are involved in a crash that kills 112 and injures 340.
• December 24, 1953 – Tangiwai disaster, New Zealand: 151 die when a bridge over the Whangaehu River collapses.
• August 22, 1955 – Spring City Train Disaster. Spring City, Tennessee: School bus disregards crossing signal and is struck by freight train. 11 dead, 39 hurt, all the dead are school children.

1960s

• 8 January 1962 – Harmelen train disaster, the Netherlands: 93 died in a near head-on collision in the fog.

• 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: 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: 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, 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.
• 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 wrong side failure
• 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

• 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: Bridge collapse plunging the train into the water, killing 47.
• 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.
• 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.
• October 5 1999 – Ladbroke Grove (Paddington) rail disaster, United Kingdom: Two trains collide head-on, killing 31 and injuring 400.
• Glenbrook train disaster — Stop and Proceed rule at red signal applied with insufficient care (too much speed), killing 7.

2000s

• February 6, 2000 – Bruehl, Germany: A night express train speeds in a construction area and derails at Bruehl station, 9 die.
• November 11, 2000 – Kaprun disaster, Austria: A funicular train catches fire in a tunnel, 155 die.
• November 15 2001 – Andersonville, Michigan (northwest of Detroit), United States: Two Canadian National Railway trains collide head-on.
• December 23 2001 – Charlotte, 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.
• 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.
• June 24, 2002 – Igandu train disaster, Tanzania: Nearly 300 are killed when a passenger train rolls backwards into a goods train.
• January 31, 2003 — Waterfall train disaster train went round sharp curve too fast. Possible 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.
• 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 (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.
• 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.
• 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] (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050106/ap_on_re_us/train_wreck)
• 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 a failed suicide attempt by an automobile driver, a southbound Metrolink double deck commuter passenger 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 passengers are killed, about 100 injured.

See also

• List of accidents by death toll, category "other"
• List of disasters
• List of British rail accidents

External links

• NTSB Publications (http://www.ntsb.gov/publictn/publictn.htm) – The United States National Transportation Safety Board official reports of transportation accidents.

References

• BBC: Europe's history of rail disasters (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1245262.stm)
• BBC: World's worst rail disasters (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3650835.stm)
• Chicago South Shore and South Bend Railroad accidents (http://southshore.railfan.net/ss-oops.html). 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 (http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20050126-1234-wst-trainderail.html). Retrieved January 26 2005.
• Train wrecks in India (http://www.emergency-management.net/train_acc_india.htm)