List of rail accidents (1970–1979)

This is a list of rail accidents from 1970 to 1979.

1970s

1970

• February 1, 1970 – Benavidez rail disaster - A Tucuman–Buenos Aires express train collides with standing local train south of Benavidez railroad station 18 miles north of Buenos Aires, Argentina. 142 people are killed, 368 injured (though some sources state 236 killed).
• February 18, 1970 – A passenger train derail with fall canyon at Langa Langa, Benue, Nigeria, killing at least 81 people
• February 23, 1970 – Valašské Meziříčí—Púchov railway line, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic): A passenger train collided with a single locomotive. 11 people killed, 14 injured.
• June 1970 – Oslo, Norway: A train from Skien collides with a shunting locomotive at Lysaker. 30 people injured.
• May 20, 1970 – New York City, NY A rerouted Brooklyn-bound GG train on the express track crosses over a switch near Roosevelt Avenue–Jackson Heights station, slammed into another train on the local track, which was taken out of service for a brake problem earlier. The out of service train on the local track was being operated from the third car while the conductor was in the first car, relaying instructions to the motorman via. a flashlight. 2 people killed, 77 injured
• June 21, 1970 – Crescent City, Illinois, United States: Toledo, Peoria and Western Railroad Company's Train No. 20 derails in downtown Crescent City; propane tank car ruptures and explosions cause fires that destroy the city center. No fatalities.
• August 9, 1970 – Plentzia, Basque Country, Spain: Two EuskoTren trains crash in each other on the Bilbao–Plentzia line killing 33 people. During 1995 this line was transferred to Metro Bilbao.
• December 11, 1970 – Řikonín, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Republic): An express train named "Pannonia" (Bucarest–Praha) crashed into a freight train which had derailed after collision with a locomotive. Two carriages of the express train then fell down from a bridge. 31 people killed (including 30 Poles - railway workers and their families), 130 injured.
• December 31, 1970 – A passenger train carrying railroad workers collid with standing freight train at Saghzi-Nibod, Ostan-e Estafan, Iran, killing 70 people, another 140 are injured.

1971

• February 9, 1971 – Aitrang, Germany: The TEE 56 »Bavaria«, a SBB RAm TEE DMU, traveling from Munich to Zürich, derails while passing a curve shortly after Aitrang station. The maximum speed in the curve is 80 km/h, however the train passes the curve at 130 km/h because of frozen water in the air brake. Shortly after the TEE has derailed, a railbus hits the wreckage, coming from the opposite direction. 28 people die, 42 are injured.^[1]
• February 15, 1971 – According to former Yugoslav Tanjug news agency report, a diesel locomotive passenger train caught fire inside tunnel at outskirt of Zenica, Bosnia, killing 34 people, another 60 are injured.
• February 22, 1971 – Kannonkoski, Finland: a schoolbus and a rail car collided at a level crossing 2,5 miles north from Kannonkoski station, six children were killed and some passengers slightly injured.
• March 4, 1971 – A local train collides with a small truck that enters the crossing on the Fujikyu line, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan, killing at least 17 people and injuring 69.
• May 27, 1971 – Radevormwald, Germany: Dahlerau train disaster - a railbus and a freight train collide on the single track line Wuppertal–Radevormwald near the station Dahlerau. The railbus was a special service carrying schoolchildren of a Radevormwald school. The local dispatcher claims to have signalled a red light to the freight train, whilst the freight train engineer claims to have seen a green one. Ultimately, the case cannot be resolved as the dispatcher is killed in a car accident before the legal hearings start. 41 people die, 25 are injured. Worst rail accident in West Germany during Deutsche Bundesbahn times. The accident leads to the phasing out of the Nachtbefehlsstab, and presses the DB to introduce radio communications on branch lines.^[1]
• June 10, 1971 – Amtrak train number 1, the northbound City of New Orleans derails at 90 miles per hour (145 km/h) near Salem, Illinois due to a false flange on a flat wheel caused by a seized axle bearing. Eleven people die and over 150 injured in Amtrak's first major incident.^[2]
• July 21, 1971 – Rheinweiler, Germany: D 370 from Basel to Copenhagen passes a 75 km/h curve at about 140 km/h and derails, destroying a detached house; 23 people die, 121 are injured. The suspected reason for the accident was a technical failure in the Class 103 engine's automatic cruise control mechanism, leading to the engine gaining too much speed. The cruise control was consequently disabled after the accident and restricted speed zones were equipped with PZB.^[1][3]
• October 25, 1971 – Two limited express trains collide head-on in the Kintetsu Osaka Line tunnel at Hakusan (present-day Tsu), Mie, Japan, killing at least 25 people and injuring 236.
• December 8, 1971 – St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA: Four teenagers from South St. Paul, Minnesota, USA, die in a car struck by Amtrak's Empire Builder at a railroad crossing in St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA. A wooden carving 'photograph' memorial hangs in the commons area of the South St. Paul Senior High School.

1972

• January 16, 1972 – A Munich–Athens Acropolis Express collided head-on with a local passenger train, with five passenger cars crushed at outskirt of Doxaras, Larisa, Greece, killing 15 people, another 50 are injured.
• March 30, 1972 – Potgietersrus (present day of Mokopane), Limpopo, South Africa: Eight cars of passenger train derailed, with 32 people killed and 135 injured.
• June 3, 1972 – near Ślesin, (near Bydgoszcz), Poland: About 12.20 p.m. a train Kolobrzeg–Warsaw derailed on fatigue rail - 12 people killed, 26 injured^[4]
• June 4, 1972 – A Kolkatta-Khulna passenger train head-on collided with standing freight train, with crushing 10 passenger cars at Jessore station, Khulna, Bangladesh, killing 76, another 500 are injured.
• June 11, 1972 – The Eltham Well Hall rail crash. An excursion train took a bend at excessive speed and derailed, at Eltham, London. The driver and five passengers were killed, and 126 people injured. The subsequent investigation established that the driver had been drinking.
• June 16, 1972 – A tunnel collapsed by huge rock fall, with two passenger train derailed, at Vierzy tunnel, Aisne, France, killing at least 107 people, injuring another 111.
• July 21, 1972 – A Madrid–Cádiz nightly express head-on collided with standing local train at El Cuervo, outskirt of Seville, Spain, killing at least 77 people, another 103 are injured.
• August 6, 1972 – A Bahawalpor–Karachi Tezro express rammed into standing freight train at Liaqatpur station, Punjab of Pakistan, killing 50 people, another 150 are injured.
• September 29, 1972 – Rust, Western Cape, South Africa: A seven passenger cars and a diesel locomotive engine careened off a bend and plunged down, with 31 people killed and 71 injured.
• October 6, 1972 – A 22-car express train carrying 2,200 pilgrims returning from a Roman Catholic religious festival derailed, overturned and caught fire at Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico. The incident was caused by the train's excessive speed when approaching a curve. Mexican officials confirmed 208 people killed and at least 1,000 injured.
• October 30, 1972 – 1972 Chicago commuter rail crash, Two Illinois Central Railroad commuter trains collide, after one train, having overshot a station stop, backs into the station. 45 people are killed and over 300 injured.^[5]
• October 30, 1972 – Schweinsburg-Culten, East Germany: The driver of Ext 346 (Leipzig–Karlovy Vary) does not notice a stop signal on a single-track stretch of line because of dense fog and collides with D 273 heading toward Berlin. 22 people die, 70 are injured.^[6]
• October 31, 1972 – A Konya–Istanbul passenger train derailed and move onto the main track in a signal mixup, and some passenger cars burst into flames at Eskisehir, Turkey, killing at least 30 people.
• November 6, 1972 – An express train bound for Aomori with 761 passengers on board is going through the Hokuriku railroad tunnel, Tsuruga, Japan, when a fire starts in the dining car, killing at least 31 people and injuring 637.

1973

• January 30, 1973 – Helvécia, Hungary: A regular local bus disregards crossing signals and booms and is crushed by local train. 37 people killed, 18 injured.
• March 18, 1973 – East Palestine. Ohio: Amtrak's westbound Broadway Limited derails last five cars in heavy snowstorm, killing one Penn Central employee riding on a pass, and injuring 19 of 167 passengers on board. A spokesman said recent heavy rains may have weakened the roadbed.^[7]
• July 10, 1973 – Leipzig, East Germany: The driver of a commuter train fails to notice a diversion, causing the train to derail and hit the signal box of Leipzig-Leutzsch railway station. Four people are killed, 25 injured.^[6]
• 27 August 1973 – near Radkowice, (near Kielce), Poland: At 2.42 a.m., a passenger train Zakopane–Warsaw slams into twenty freight cars which break away from freight train - 16 people killed, 24 injured^[8]
• August 1973 – Glasgow, Scotland: Electric train hits a diesel train near Glasgow Central Station. 5 people die, 50 are injured.
• September 7, 1973 – Copenhagen, Denmark: 2 people killed and 23 injured as an S-train collides with another stationary S-train in a tunnel close to Østerport station.
• December 1973 – Ealing rail crash, London: Train derails, killing 10 people and injuring 94.
• December 17, 1973 – According to Brazilian Rede Globo television report, an express passenger train head-on collided with freight train at outskirt of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, killing 18 people, another 40 are injured.^[9]

1974

• June 17, 1974 – According to a MENA report, a Cairo–Alexandria express train collided with Egyptian military truck at level crossing of Benha, Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt, killing 16 people, another injuring are 90.
• August 4, 1974 – Italicus Express bombing 1974: A bomb explodes in car 5 of the Italicus Express running from Rome to Munich on the night of the 4 August. Twelve passengers were killed and 44 were wounded. About ten years later in the same place, another terrorist attack against another train killed 17 and wounded 265.
• August 30, 1974 – Zagreb, SR Croatia, Yugoslavia): An express train from Athens to Dortmund derails at Zagreb train station because of excessive speed. 152 passengers killed and 90 injured. (see 1974 Zagreb train disaster)

1975

• January 18, 1975 – According to Egyptian newspaper al-Ahram report, a Damietta–Cairo express train derailed and crushing six passenger cars, where a man riding on locomotive engine, which overturned twice at Kalyub, Nile Delta, Egypt, killing 27 people, another injuring are 52.
• February 22, 1975 – Tretten, Norway: The Tretten train disaster. A passenger train from Oslo collides with an express train from Trondheim. 27 people killed.
• February 28, 1975 – Moorgate tube crash, England: A London Underground train fails to stop at a dead-end tunnel at Moorgate station, 43 people are killed.
• March 31, 1975 – According to Swedish Sveriges Television report, a 13 cars Stockholm–Malmö Oeresund Arrow express, carrying 300 passengers on board has derailed at Mjoelby, Ostergotland, Sweden, killing 14 people, another injuring 39.
• April 4, 1975 – At Žąsliai in Vilnius - Kaunas line, passing passenger train hit the fuel cistern that was protruding too much out of the improperly parked, standing freight train. 17 people were killed in the resulted fire. Dispatcher sentenced for 13 years in prison.

• June 6, 1975 – Nuneaton rail crash, Warwickshire, England: Collision between two trains at Nuneaton Station, including the London Euston to Glasgow sleeper service. 6 people killed 38 injured.
• June 8, 1975 – Warngau, Germany: Two trains collide on a single-rail stretch of track between Lenggries and Munich because of a dispatcher error. 41 people dead, 122 injured.
• July 17, 1975 – According to SBT television of Brazil report, a six car of commuter train with 1,000 passengers on board plunged rail track, and crushing two passenger cars at Madareira, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, killing 14 people and 340 injured.
• October 14, 1975 – Hajdúsámson, Hungary: Local bus struck by local train. 12 people killed, 8 injured.
• December 12, 1975 - eastbound GO Transit commuter train express from Toronto Union Station collides with a stalled Toronto Transit Bus on the level crossing at Danforth Road. 9 passengers from the bus are killed.
• December 14, 1975 – According to Lusa News Agency report, a Lisbon-Paris express head-on collided another local train at Fornos de Algodres, Viseu, Portugal, killing 16 people, another injuring are 60.
• December 31, 1975 – Gorey, Co. Wexford, Republic of Ireland. A Passenger train derails on a bridge near Gorey Co Wexford which was damaged after a vehicle crashed into it killing five people and injuring 30.

1976

• 16 January 1976 – Glenbrook, freight train runs into rear of failed passenger train.
• March 17, 1976 – A Machu Picchu–Cuzco sightseeing passenger train smashes into the rear of another passenger train at Panradero Imata railroad station, Arequipa, Peru, killing 30 people, injuring another 100, reported by Peruvian America Television .
• April 21, 1976 – at Changhua, Taiwan: A bus carrying students collides with a train, killing 40 people and injuring 42.
• May 4, 1976 – near Schiedam, the Netherlands: An international train collides with a local train, killing 24 people and injuring 11.
• September 11, 1976 – A two-car Chihuahua–Los Mochis passenger train collides head-on with a standing freight train, and plunges to the bottom of 60-feet embankment, near Barranca del Cobre, Chihuahua, Mexico, killing 24 people and injuring 60. Some of the passengers were riding on the roof.^[10]
• November 3, 1976 – About 2.05 a.m., a Lublin–Wrocław express, on which the train crew had fallen asleep, rams a standing passenger train at Julianka railroad station, Kielce, Swietokrzyskie, Poland, killing 25 people and injuring 79.^[11]
• November 29, 1976 – An overnight Mombasa–Nairobi express carrying 600 passengers on board, plunges into flood-waters caused by thunderstorm at Kathekani, Voi, Kenya, killing 12 people and injuring 70.^[12]

1977

• January 18, 1977 – Granville railway disaster, Australia: 83 people die when a train derails and hits a bridge support. The bridge then falls, crushing part of the train.
• February 4, 1977 – Chicago Loop derailment Chicago, Illinois, United States: In the worst accident in the system's history, a Chicago Transit Authority elevated train motorman disregards cab signals and rear ends another train on the Loop curve at Wabash and Lake Streets during the evening rush hour. Eleven people are killed and over 180 injured as four cars of the rear train derail and fall to the street below. The motorman was discovered to have marijuana in his possession, although it was never determined if he was impaired in any way.^[13]
• February 28, 1977 – According to Televisio de Catalunya report, a Martorell-Plaza de Espana of Barcelona and Plaza de Espana-Igualada commuter locomotive cars train head-on collided near San Andres de Barca station, Barcelona, Spain, killing 22 people and injuring 97.
• June 27, 1977 – Lebus, East Germany: Because of a dispatcher operating under the influence of medication at Boosen, a holiday train from Zittau to Stralsund is diverted onto the branch line to Kietz, where it crashes with a freight train. 28 people die in the accident, including the train crew of the holiday train; the dispatcher is jailed for five years.^[6]
• July 9, 1977 – Psie Pole, near Wrocław, Poland: About 8.00 a.m. express "German-Russian Friendship" Berlin-Moscow collides with locomotive which passed signal at danger: 11 people killed (maybe: 32), 15 injured (maybe: 40)^[14]
• November 9, 1977 – Pensacola, Florida, United States: A Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company freight train derails near Escambia Bay, and a punctured tank car of anhydrous ammonia kills two local residents as they try to flee the toxic gas cloud. Another 46 are injured.
• November 11, 1977 – Freight train with dynamite explodes at Iri railroad station, Iksan, Jeollabukdo, South Korea, killing at least 57 people.
• November 12, 1977 – Nacional de Mexico passenger train collides with a gasoline truck at a grade crossing south of Cuidad Juarez, killing 37 people. ^[15][16]
• November 27, 1977 – Bitterfeld, East Germany: The boiler of a Class 01 steam engine explodes for lack of water, killing 9 and injuring 45.^[6][17]

1978

• February 22, 1978 – Waverly tank car explosion, Waverly, Tennessee, United States: A Louisville and Nashville Railroad freight train derails; one tank car containing liquefied petroleum gas explodes two days later, killing 16 people and injuring 43. Numerous buildings in downtown Waverly are destroyed or damaged by force of the blast and resulting fires.
• February 25, 1978 – According to Argentine television network Artear report, a 18 car Tucuman–Buenos Aires express train carrying 2,130 passengers returning from a sea side resort slams into a heavy weight truck and skids along the embankment for 900 feet at Saa Pereya, Santa Fe, Argentina. 11 passenger cars derail, killing 50 people, another 120 are injured.
• February 26, 1978 – Youngstown, Florida, United States: Atlanta & St. Andrews Bay Railway freight train derails, a chlorine gas cloud, released from a punctured tank car, kills eight people and injures 138. This was the first recorded major liquified chlorine gas disaster and the cloud was some 5 km (3.1 mi) long.
• April 13, 1978 – Budapest, Hungary: commuter train overruns a buffer stop owing to brake failure and crashes into the station building. 13 people killed, 25 injured.
• April 15, 1978 – Due to a landslide, the locomotive of a Lecce–Milan train collides with a Bolzano-Rome train in Murazze di Vado, Bologna, making it derail. 48 people die and 76 are injured.^[18]
• July 6, 1978 – Taunton train fire, Taunton, England: A fire aboard a British Rail sleeping car travelling from Penzance to Paddington station in London kills 12 people. Investigation shows that the fire was caused by the careless placement of a plastic bag of linens against a heater in the car's vestibule.
• September 10, 1978 – Miamisburg, Ohio, United States: 15 cars of a Conrail freight train derailed as the result of a hotbox caused by uneven loading of a gondola carrying steel ingots loaded at Buffalo, New York, by Republic Steel, demolishing a house beside the tracks and killing its three occupants.
• October 12, 1978 – an IRA bomb exploded on a train near Belfast Central station before it was fully evacuated, killing a woman.^[19]
• December 3, 1978 – Shipman, Virginia, United States: Southern Railway's Southern Crescent enters a curve at excess speed; all of the consist but the lead engine and last car derail and slide down a ravine. Six die, including Gov. Jimmy Carter's former chef, Louis Price, killed in the galley. Sixty others are injured, most trapped in the wreckage.
• December 15, 1978 – According to Telemadrid Television of Spain report, a Madrid–Cádiz Talgo Express with 300 passengers rammed into freight train at Manzanares railroad station, Ciudad Real, Spain, at least 12 people dead and injuring 60.
• December 16, 1978 – According to China Central Television report, No.87 express Nanjing–Xuzhou head-on collided with standing No.368 Xian–Xuzhou passenger train at Yangzhuang railroad station, Lujiang, Anhui, China, killing 106 people, another 218 are injured.

1979

• January 4, 1979 – Two Ankara-Istanbul express head collided in blizzard condition, and both passenger cars crushed at Esenkoy, Cinacik, Yalova, Turkey, both train carrying 1,300 passengers, at least 32 people killed and injuring 216.
• January 9, 1979 – A local commuter train rammed into standing another suburban rapid express on a blocked same track at Behichey railroad station, Ankara, Turkey, killing 30 people and injuring 95.
• January 18, 1979 – A twenty-three cars of freight train and a five cars of Valencia bound local train head on collide at Sueca, Valencia, Spain, at least five killed.
• January 26, 1979 – A passenger train with disel locomotive derailed with overturned at Chuadunga station, Khuina, Bangladesh, killing 70 people and injuring 200.
• February 11, 1979 – A passenger train halted in a station that hit from another train at Heilongjiang, China, in an incident caused by another train driver has exceed speed, at least 100 people dead.
• April 8, 1979 – Louisville and Nashville Railroad freight train No. 403 derails 29 cars between Milligan, Florida and Crestview, Florida, United States at ~0800 hrs. and punctured tank car leaks anhydrous ammonia, injuring 14.^[20]
• July 10, 1979 – A Pompeii-Naples and Naples-Herculaneum commuter train crashed violent head-on collision under shadow of Under Vesuvius Line, in Cercola near Mount Vesuvius, Naples, Italy, killing 14 people and injuring 70.^[18]
• 21 August 1979 – Taling Chan, Thailand: 54 people are killed in the worst accident in Thai railway history when a Thonburi - Nakhon Pathom commuter train collides with a Bangsue - Padang Besar freight train at Taling Chan, as a result of errors on the part of the fatigued freight train engineer.
• September 13, 1979 – A freight train rammed a Belgrade–Skopie express train at Stalac, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia, with two freight cars and four passengers car are crashed, killing 61 people, another 96 are injured.
• October 20, 1979 – A commuter train smashed into a local bus at crossing level of outskirt of Cairo, Egypt, killing 28 people and 36 are injured.
• October 22, 1979 – Invergowrie rail crash, Scotland: starting signal failed to return completely to stop, giving the following train a false clear indication. 5 killed.
• October 31, 1979 – Holhol, Alisabieh, Djibouti: An express train crashed and hurling down a hillside and at least 60 people killed with 80 injured.
• November 10, 1979 – Mississauga train derailment in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada: tank cars containing propane and chlorine derail, causing a propane fire that burns for days and lofts deadly chlorine high into the air. No one is killed or seriously injured, but more than 250,000 residents are evacuated from the city: the largest peacetime emergency evacuation in North American history until Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
• November 14, 1979 – 1979 Matunga train. One local train rammed into the next local train at Sion Mumbai - the train driver may have died and the train did not stop. Train nos. T81 and C35 involved. Five died, 21 injured. The accident was classified under the category of "Act of God" to prevent improvement in the safety system by Railway Administration, Indian Railways. Information obtained under RTI.

See also

• List of accidents by death toll, category "other"
• List of road accidents - includes level crossing accidents.
• List of British rail accidents
• List of Russian rail accidents
• Years in rail transport

References

Sources

• Haine, Edgar A. (1993). Railroad wrecks. Associated University Presses. ISBN 978-0-8453-4844-4. 
• Rolt, L. T. C.; Kichenside, G. M. (1982). Red for Danger: A history of railway accidents and railway safety (4th ed.). Newton Abbot, Devon: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-8362-0. OCLC 9526651. 
• Shaw, Robert B. (1978). A History of Railroad Accidents, Safety Precautions and Operating Practices. LCCN 78-104064. 

External links

• Railroad train wrecks 1907-2007