India’s train accidents: a history, fatalities, and a list of significant incidents since 2017

Train accidents in India: On the intervening nights of Sunday and Monday, at least four carriages of the Sabarmati-Agra superfast train derailed close to the Madar railway station in Ajmer, Rajasthan. Thankfully, no injuries were recorded. However, on Monday, March 18, the railroads cancelled six trains and rerouted two others, which had an impact on the rail services along the line.

It is worth noting that rail accidents have consistently raised concerns. Incidents including derailments, crashes, and level-crossing accidents still happen despite significant expenditures on modernization and safety measures. India has seen many railway accidents in the last five years that have caused significant loss of life and material damage. The following are a few significant train mishaps that happened in India:

A list of significant rail mishaps in India:
Shalimar, Central Coromandel Motorway, Chennai, Odisha: On June 2, 2023, a horrifying triple train catastrophe in Odisha involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, and a cargo train resulted in over 290 fatalities and over 900 injuries.
Train accident in Andhra Pradesh: 14 people lost their lives in a train crash in Andhra Pradesh on October 29, 2023, involving the Visakhapatnam-Palasa and Visakhapatnam-Rayagada passenger trains. The tragedy happened when one of the passenger trains ran a signal, according to the authorities.
Derailment of the Bihar North East Express: On October 11, 2023, at about midnight, six coaches of the 12506 Anand Vihar Terminal-Kamakhya Junction North East Express in Bihar derailed close to the Raghunathpur Railway Station in Buxar. The incident resulted in four fatalities and over seventy injuries.
Fire in the Lucknow-Rameshwaram Bharat Gaurav train: On August 25, 2023, at around 5.15 am, a fire broke out in the Lucknow-Rameshwaram Bharat Gaurav train, which resulted in nine passenger deaths and twenty injuries. When the fire broke out, it was discovered that the passengers had concealed a gas cylinder inside the train and were cooking inside the coach.
On January 13, 2022, at least 12 coaches of the Bikaner-Guwahati Express derailed in the Alipurduar, West Bengal, area, leaving nine people dead and 36 wounded.
Nine train carriages of the Kaifiyat Express, headed for Delhi, derailed on August 23, 2021, close to Auraiya, Uttar Pradesh, inflicting injuries on at least seventy people.
On August 19, 2017, 14 out of the 23 coaches of the Puri-Haridwar Utkal Express derailed at Muzaffarnagar, resulting in around 20 fatalities and close to 60 injuries.