Railway accident

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

• Plain track
• Curves
• Junctions

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.

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.

Errors caused by the actions of signalmen include:

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

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

Issues with the civil engineering of the railway include:

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

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

• 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.

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

• 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