What was the worst train crash ever?

The 2004 Sri Lanka tsunami train wreck is the largest single rail disaster in world history by death toll, with 1,700 fatalities or more. It occurred when a crowded passenger train (No 50, Matara Express) was destroyed on a coastal railway in Sri Lanka by a tsunami that followed the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake.



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In 2022, there were more than 1,000 train derailments in the U.S. There were at least 1,164 train derailments across the country last year, according to data from the Federal Railroad Administration. That means the country is averaging roughly three derailments per day.

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The Great Train Wreck of 1918. On July 9, 1918, two passenger trains collided head-on in Nashville, Tennessee. Today, it remains the worst railroad accident in United States history.

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The first recorded railroad accident in U.S. history happened on July 25, 1832, near Quincy, Massachusetts. Four people, who had been invited to watch stone loads being transported, were thrown from a car on the Granite Railway when a cable snapped.

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In 2022, there were more than 1,000 train derailments in the U.S. There were at least 1,164 train derailments across the country last year, according to data from the Federal Railroad Administration.

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On 6 October 1866, brothers John and Simeon Reno staged what is generally believed to be the first train robbery in American history. Their take was $13,000 from an Ohio and Mississippi railroad train in Jackson County, Indiana.

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CSX #8888, an SD40-2, ran away under power without a crew after the engineer incorrectly set the locomotive's dynamic brake and was unable to get back into the locomotive after it began moving.

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During the night of 22–23 July 1945, these men went ashore at Karafuto, Japan, and planted an explosive charge that subsequently wrecked a train.

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Compared to other popular forms of travel, such as cars, ships, buses, and planes, trains are one of the safest forms of transportation in the United States.

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Derailments are often tied to equipment failures, human error, and track defects. While we still don't know what caused the Minnesota train derailment, there are factors we know about that may contribute to rail accidents overall. Human error and track defects are two of the biggest causes of derailments, for example.

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Balasore, Odisha — Mohammad Afzal survived one of the worst train accidents in India's history, but remained in a state of high anxiety, unable to locate his friend who was in the same coach.

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USA Today analyzed 10 years of federal rail incident reports and found over 5,000 incidents of hazardous materials spilling or leaking from trains that were either in transit or sitting in rail yards. In 2022, rail companies reported over 330 spills or leaks of hazardous materials – of which only six caused an injury.

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At present, the Seikan Tunnel is the world's deepest and longest railway tunnel with approximately 23.3km of the tunnel being located under the seabed making it the world's longest undersea tunnel.

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Trains have the right-of-way because they cannot quickly stop for a motorist at crossings or for trespassers on the tracks. The average freight train, traveling at 55 MPH, takes anywhere from 1 to 1½ miles to stop. Traveling at the same speed, the average automobile can stop in only 200 feet.

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Trains can't stop quickly or swerve. The average freight train is about 1 to 1¼ miles in length (90 to 120 rail cars). When it's moving at 55 miles an hour, it can take a mile or more to stop after the locomotive engineer fully applies the emergency brake.

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The death of Great Train Robber Gordon Goody means there are now only two left from the gang of 15 robbers and accomplices involved in the heist – Tommy Wisbey and Bob Welch. Wisbey, now 85, was arrested a month after the August 1963 robbery and was sentenced to 30 years. He was released after 12 years in 1976.

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Bandits, cheats, desperados, hobos, ravagers, renegades — you name the hooligan, and the Wild West has it in spades. There are plenty of opportunities for these ne'er-do-wells to pillage and plunder in the mostly uncharted western lands, but robbing trains has become the trendiest.

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