Railway accident

"Train wreck" redirects here. For other uses, see Train wreck (disambiguation).

A railway accident (also known as a train accident, train wreck, and train crash) is a type of disaster involving one or more trains. Train wrecks often occur as a result of miscommunication, for example when a moving train meets another train on the same track, when the wheels of train come off the track, or when a boiler explosion occurs. Train accidents have often been widely covered in popular media and in folklore. A head-on collision between two trains is colloquially called a "cornfield meet" in the United States.^[1]

Versailles rail accident in 1842, 57 people were killed including the French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville.

Montparnasse derailment with one fatality at Gare Montparnasse in Paris, 1895

Wheels from Engine Tender#013 which was destroyed in a wreck in 1907 on a bridge over Village Creek between Silsbee and Beaumont, Texas. The wheels are on display in the Arizona Railway Museum.

The classification of railway accidents—both in terms of cause and effect—is a valuable aid in studying railway accidents in order to help to prevent similar ones occurring in the future. Systematic investigation for over 150 years has led to the railways' excellent safety record (compared, for example, with road transport).

Ludwig von Stockert (1913) proposed a classification of accidents by their effects (consequences); e.g. head-on-collisions, rear-end collisions, derailments. Schneider and Mase (1968) proposed an additional classification by causes; e.g. driver's errors, signalmen's errors, mechanical faults. Similar categorisations had been made by implication in previous books e.g. Rolt (1956), but Stockert's and Schneider/Mase's are more systematic and complete. With minor changes, they represent best knowledge.

Types of accidents

Collisions

Railway collisions come in the form of:

• Head-on collision with another train
• Rear-end collision with another train
• Slanting collision with another train
• Collisions with buffer stops (overrunning end of track)
• Collisions with obstructions on the track (may also cause derailment)
• Collision with landslips (in cuttings)

Derailments

Derailments, where trains are no longer correctly on the tracks, usually occur at:

• Plain track
• Curves
• Junctions

Other

Other forms of train accident include:

• Fires, explosions and release of hazardous chemicals (including sabotage/terrorism)
• People falling from trains, collisions with people on tracks
• Attack, shooting or bombing on a train.

Causes of accidents

Driver error

Errors caused by the actions of train drivers include:

• Passing signals at danger
• Excessive speed
• Mishandling of the engine (e.g. boiler explosions)
• Failure to check brakes and safety systems as well as sand reserve
• Failure to stop at required positions, e.g. level crossings with defective equipment or shunting movements that lead to occupied tracks.

Signalman error

Errors caused by the actions of signalmen include:

• Allowing two trains into same occupied block section
• Incorrect operation of signals, points or token equipment

Rolling stock failure

Issues with rolling stock include:

• Poor design
• Poor maintenance
• Undetected damage
• Overloading or freight that is not adequately secured.
• Fire starting from combustion motors, electric cables or equipment, leaking fuel or cooling oil

Civil engineering failure

Issues with the civil engineering of the railway include:

• Track (permanent way) faults
• Bridge and tunnel collapses
• Poor track or junction layout

Other people

Reasons other people accidentally cause a train accident include:^[2]

• Accidental track obstruction e.g. with road vehicles or by working construction vehicles

People can break, place something, intentionally set the switch to a collision course, destroy tracks, and this is called rail sabotage.^[3] Reasons other people deliberately cause a train accident include:

• Deliberate track obstruction, e.g. with road vehicles or (heavy) objects
• Intentional damage to infrastructure like tracks, points or signals
• Level crossing misuse
• Trespass
• Riot
• Terrorism

Natural causes

• Track obstruction or damage by landslides, avalanches, floods, trees
• Fog or snow that obscure signals or the current position of the train
• Wet leaves (or their remains) making the tracks slippery.

Contributory factors

• Strength of rolling stock
• Fire hazards or dangerous goods in the train, in involved road vehicles or the vicinity
• Effectiveness of brakes
• Inadequate rules

See also

• Trains portal

• Lists of rail accidents
  • List of accidents and disasters by death toll
  • Bridge disaster
  • Level crossing crashes
  • Runaway
  • Signal passed at danger
  • Tram accident
  • Wrong-side failure
• The crash at Crush, Texas, an intentional train wreck conducted as a publicity stunt
• Railway accident deaths