Newswire

Quarterly round-up: between August and October this year, several rail incidents occurred around the world, causing injuries and fatalities.

10 August – Switzerland

Freight derailment in Gotthard Base Tunnel

A freight train derailed in the Gotthard Base Tunnel. There were no reported injuries. Swiss Transportation Safety Investigation Board investigators later found fragments of wheel and traces of derailment a few kilometres before the accident site, suggesting a broken wheel tread to be the cause.

21 August – USA

Freight derails after striking vehicle on protected crossing in Louisiana

A freight train derailed after striking a road vehicle at Airport Boulevard gated crossing in New Iberia. The operator – Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) – confirmed that two locomotives and 20 wagons were involved but that there were no reported injuries as a result of the incident.

23 August – India

At least 26 killed in Mizoram bridge collapse

At least 26 people were killed and two were injured when a railway bridge being built across a ravine in Mizoram collapsed on 23 August 2023. The Northeast Frontier Railway confirmed that the accident had occurred during work on the Bairabi–Sairang New Line Railway Project.

26 August – India

Ten killed in carriage fire in Tamil Nadu

On the morning of 26 August 2023, 10 people were killed when a fire broke out inside a stationary ‘private party’ carriage in Madurai station. The carriage, carrying 65 passengers, had arrived from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. Once at Madurai, it was decoupled and moved to a siding.

26 August – Italy

At least five track workers struck and killed at Brandizzo

Five people were killed when an empty coaching stock formation struck a group of track workers as it passed through Brandizzo station. Two members of staff were uninjured but taken to hospital for observation. Early reports hint that a communication error may have been the cause.

1 September – Chile

Seven killed in crossing collision near San Pedro de La Paz

A passenger train struck a minibus at a level crossing near San Pedro de La Paz, dragging it for several metres, killing seven people. Five people were also reported seriously injured, three of whom required surgery. The bus had driven round the crossing barriers.

14 September – USA

Freight carrying dangerous goods explodes in North Platte yard

A container carrying perchloric acid exploded at Bailey Yard in North Platte, Nebraska, causing other wagons in the rake to catch fire. Evacuation orders were issued. By the evening, the fires had been extinguished. There were no reported injuries.

23 September – USA

Six killed when train strikes road vehicle on open crossing in Florida

Six people were killed – three of them children – when a train struck a road vehicle at an open level crossing in Hillsborough County, Florida. A witness had sounded their own vehicle’s horn to try to alert the road driver, but the car continued to traverse.

24 September – Pakistan

At least 31 injured in rear-end collision near Qila Sattar Shah

At least 31 people were injured when a passenger train struck the rear of a stationery freight near Qila Sattar Shah. The passenger driver had applied the emergency brakes but to no avail. Initial reports say a points failure wrongly routed the train.

4 October – Hong Kong

Three hurt when light rail trains collide at Long Yat Road

During rush hour, a light rail train struck an empty formation at the Long Yat Road terminus. Three passengers were injured. The operator, the MTR Corporation, said that preliminary findings had not ruled out the ‘possibility of a human factor being involved’.

5 October – Poland

Head-on collision in Gdynia injures five staff

At 07.00 (local time), two trains collided head-on in Gdynia, injuring five people, all of them railway employees. Four were taken to a local hospital, with the fifth person treated on site. Some reports cite human error as the cause, though the specific cause has yet to be determined.

15 October – USA

Freight derails causing bridge collapse and death of lorry driver in Colorado

A freight train derailed on a bridge over Interstate 25 in Pueblo, Colorado. Several wagons fell onto the road and the bridge collapsed. The driver of a lorry passing under the bridge at the time of the incident was killed. An investigation is under way.