Over 2000 Injuries And 766 People Dead In Rail Accidents In Last 10 Years

In the last 10 tens, at least 2179 people have been injured and 766 have died in train accidents across India. The Ministry of Railways in a Parliamentary answer claimed that there has been a decline in the number of consequential train accidents, from 135 in 2014-15 to 31 in 2024-25. However, the number of casualties remains high. 

With 11 accidents this year, Accidents Per Million Train Kilometer have also reduced from 0.11 in 2014-15 to 0.03 in 2024-25, indicating an improvement of approximately 73 per cent during the said period.

Casualties remain a continuing concern. Within the decade starting in 2004, the Railways recorded 1,711 such accidents, resulting in 904 deaths and 3,155 injuries. This number fell to 678 accidents between 2014–15 and 2023–24, with 748 deaths and 2,087 injuries reported in the period. 

In the year 2024–25, 31 consequential train accidents have been recorded so far, causing 18 deaths and 92 injuries.

Accident victims are provided ex gratia relief soon after an accident or untoward incident. Between January 1, 2014, and 21 November, 2025, the Railways paid ₹12.76 crore in ex gratia to the next of kin of individuals who died in train accidents. 

Compensation for death or injury to railway passengers in train accidents or untoward incidents, as defined under Sections 124 and 124-A (read with Section 123) of the Railways Act, 1989, is determined by the Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT) on the basis of claim applications filed by victims or their dependants. 

The RCT disposes of cases through the due judicial process, and compensation is paid by the Railway Administration once a decree is awarded and accepted for implementation. This compensation is provided over and above the ex gratia amount. From January 1, 2014, to November 21, 2025, the total compensation paid to the next of kin of those who died in train derailments amounts to ₹21.72 crore.

Expenditure on safety-related activities across Indian Railways have also risen substantially over the years, increasing from ₹39,463 crore in 2013–14 to ₹87,327 crore in 2022–23, ₹1,01,651 crore in 2023–24, and further to ₹1,14,022 crore in 2024–25, with a projected ₹1,16,470 crore in 2025–26. 

In parallel with higher investment, the Railways has expanded key safety infrastructure: electrical and electronic interlocking systems with centralised operation of points and signals have been installed at 6,656 stations up to October 31, 2025; interlocking has been provided at 10,098 level crossing gates to improve safety at these high-risk points; and complete track circuiting, which enhances safety by enabling electrical verification of track occupancy, has been implemented at 6,661 stations as of the same date.

Major Train Accidents In The Past Decade: 

India witnessed one of its worst railway accidents on June 2, 2023, when a triple-train collision led to the deaths of at least 293 people. The Commission of Railway Safety found “lapses at multiple levels”, adding that the accident could have been averted if past red flags were not ignored.  In July that year, the authorities suspended seven employees, including three arrested earlier by the Central Bureau of Investigation. 

The accident occurred when the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express mistakenly entered the loop line and collided with a stationary goods train in Balasore, Odisha. Several coaches of the Yesvantpur Superfast Express, travelling towards Howrah, then derailed after striking the overturned coaches of the Coromandel Express that had spilled onto the adjacent track. 

In 2024, June 7, at least nine people were killed and 25 injured when the Kanchanjunga Express was struck by a container freight train near New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal.

On January 13, 2022, 10 passengers were killed and more than 40 injured after 12 coaches of the Bikaner–Guwahati Express derailed in the Domohani area of West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district. According to the CRS, the cause of the derailment was “Failure of equipment (locomotive)”.

On May 8, 2020, an empty freight train travelling from Cherlapally Station near Hyderabad to Panewadi Station in Nashik accidentally ran over 16 workers who were sleeping on the tracks. The loco pilot reportedly spotted the workers but was unable to stop the train in time. The workers, migrants from Madhya Pradesh, were attempting to return home during the coronavirus pandemic. Exhausted, they had likely fallen asleep on the tracks. 

While the Railways has in some earlier runover cases offered humanitarian payments—even though such incidents are categorised as “trespassing”—it did not do so here. A preliminary inquiry by the CRS later blamed the workers for “negligence” and ruled out any lapse on the part of railway staff.

No major train accidents were reported in 2021, a year heavily affected by Covid. All passenger trains had been suspended from 22 March 2020 due to the nationwide lockdown, with a partial resumption beginning in May 2020. 

On October 19, 2018, nearly 60 people were killed and several injured when two trains ploughed through crowds standing on the railway tracks near Amritsar to watch Dussehra celebrations. Around 300 people had gathered near the tracks for the fireworks when the Jalandhar–Amritsar DMU approached. 

As some moved to another set of tracks, the Amritsar–Howrah Express arrived from the opposite direction, passing through the crowd. The then Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh ordered a magisterial inquiry, which reportedly identified multiple failures across those present, the Municipal Corporation of Amritsar, politicians involved in the event, the police and the Railways.

On January 21, 2017, the Jagdalpur–Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express derailed at Kuneru station in Andhra Pradesh, killing 40 people and injuring more than 50.

On November 20, 2016, 14 coaches of the Indore–Patna Express derailed in the Pukhrayan area of Kanpur Dehat district, resulting in 152 deaths — one of the worst railway accidents in recent years. 

The probe was handed over to the National Investigation Agency amid government suspicions of terrorist involvement. Then Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu referred to “possible criminal interference by outsiders”, and at a 2017 election rally in Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it a “conspiracy”, The Indian Express reported. 

However, in 2020, the final CRS report attributed the incident to a sudden catastrophic mechanical failure as the “probable cause”. It found that a corroded welded component on a coach had broken off and become “embedded” in the track, creating an obstruction that caused two coaches to lift off the rails and crash into a third at high speed.

On 20 March 2015, the Varanasi–Dehradun Janata Express failed to stop at a station in Uttar Pradesh, leading to a crash and the derailment of several coaches, killing around 39 passengers and injuring 150.

On 26 May 2014, the Gorakhdham Express derailed while running through a double-line section on the Hisar–Gorakhpur route in Uttar Pradesh, with the locomotive and 11 coaches leaving the tracks. A 2016 CRS report noted, “Analysis of rail/welf failures leaves a lot to be desired. These failures are treated mainly as statistical data. It is necessary that each failure is properly investigated…” The accident claimed at least 29 lives and injured more than 70 people.