List of rail accidents (1980–89)

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This is a list of rail accidents from 1980 to 1989.

1980s

1980

• January 18, 1980 – United Kingdom – Belfast, County Antrim: An IRA firebomb inadvertently detonates on a train travelling between Ballymena and Belfast, engulfing a carriage and killing three (including the bomber). Five are injured in the blast.^[1][2]
• February 16, 1980 – United Kingdom – An express passenger train is derailed at Bushey, Hertfordshire due to a broken rail. Nineteen people are seriously injured.^[3]
• May 22, 1980 – United Kingdom – A sleeper train is derailed at Prestonpans, Lothian due to a vandal placing a length of rail across the line.^[4]
• July 25, 1980 – Netherlands – Winsum train disaster: Two trains collide on a single track between Groningen and Roodeschool resulting in 9 deaths and 21 injured.
• August 1, 1980 – Ireland – Buttevant Rail Disaster, County Cork: A train derails at speed due to a signal fault on the main Dublin - Cork line leaving 18 dead and 62 injured.
• August 2, 1980 – Italy – Bologna: the Ancona–Chiasso train waiting on platform 1 of the Bologna Central Station is caught in the blast of the bomb that caused the Bologna massacre. 85 people killed and more than 200 wounded, including both passengers on the train and people near and inside the station buildings.
• August 19, 1980 – Poland – A freight train runs through a red light and slams into a passenger train traveling from Toruń to Łódź. The accident near Otłoczyn killed 67 people and injured 65.
• November 17, 1980 – Cima Hill, California: Runaway Union Pacific Railroad train loaded with ties is unable to brake and crashes into another train. Three railroad workers killed.^[5]
• November 21, 1980 – Italy – Curinga train disaster A Rome-Siracusa express train rammed into 69 cars of a freight train, and then derailed the Sicily-Rome express train, crushing four passenger cars at Curinga near Lamezia Terme, Catanzaro, killing 29 people and injuring 104.^[6]

1981

• April 8, 1981 – United Kingdom – A freight train is derailed at Hadfield, Derbyshire.^[7]
• June 4, 1981 – Poland – Osieck rail crash: About 3.45 p.m. there was a head-on collision between PKP class EN57 and freight train with two heavy locomotives: 25 people killed (mostly railroad workers who come back to home from work), 8 survived; crew of freight train, which passed signal at danger - survived too.^[8]
• June 6, 1981 – India – Bihar train disaster: Hundreds are killed (300-800) when a train falls into a river.^[9]
• July 9, 1981 – China – Liziyida train disaster: A bridge was destroyed by mud-rock flow, while a passenger train was running towards it. Two locomotives, a mail carriage and a passenger carriage were flushed into the Dadu River by the flow, and other two passenger carriages derailed, 275 people killed or lost.

1982

• January 13, 1982 – United States – Washington, D.C.: An Orange line train derails on the Washington Metro between the Smithsonian and Federal Triangle stations. While the train was being backed, the derailed truck drives the aluminum car into a tunnel support, killing three people. By coincidence this happened at the same time Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th Street Bridge.
• January 16, 1982 – United Kingdom – A freight train derails at Chinley, Derbyshire.^[10]
• March 14, 1982 – United States – Mineola, New York: A Long Island Rail Road train hits a van at a level crossing on Herricks Road killing nine and injuring one.^[11]
• July 7, 1982 – United States – Fair Lawn, New Jersey: Teenagers throw a switch and send a commuter train into a pasta factory resulting in the death of the engineer. Four teens are eventually charged with various crimes relating to the wreck.^[12]
• August 2, 1982 – West Germany – Ostercappeln: Two drunk British Army soldiers steal a tank at the Osnabrück barracks and crash into the oncoming D 15233 after the tank has been driven on the Rollbahn railway tracks. Both engines of the train and five cars derail, the tank is completely destroyed. 23 people are injured, the two soldiers are instantly killed.^[13][14]
• September 12, 1982 – Switzerland – A bus carrying members of Schönaich sports association was hit by a late running three car regional train on a level crossing in Pfaeffikon when an attendant failed to close manually operated barriers. 39 people in the bus were killed, only 2 survived.^[15]

1983

• August 21, 1983 – Ireland – Cherryville Junction, County Kildare: a train, having run out of fuel and stopped, is hit by a second train from the rear. 7 people are killed and 55 are injured.^[16]

1984

• June 23, 1984 – United Kingdom – An express passenger train is derailed at Morpeth, Northumberland due to excessive speed on a curve. Fifteen people are injured.
• July 7, 1984 – United States – Williston, Vermont: The Amtrak Montrealer derailed following a railbed washout, killing five people and injuring nearly 140.^[17]
• July 30, 1984 – United Kingdom – Polmont rail accident, a push-pull train derailed after colliding with a cow, killing 13.
• October 31, 1984 – Argentina – According to Argentine television network Telefe report, a commuter train rammed into the bus and shoved 600-feet down a rail tracks, where scattering wreckage and bodies along the way at San Justo, suburb of Buenos Aires, killing 43 people, another ten are injured.
• November 13, 1984 – United Kingdom – A freight train is derailed at Stockport, Cheshire due to a defective wagon.^[18]
• November 30, 1984 – United Kingdom – A passenger train is derailed by a broken rail at Stoulton, Worcestershire. Two people are injured.^[19]
• December 23, 1984 – Italy – Train 904 bombing: The Rapido 904 from Naples to Milan, aka the "Christmas train", explodes in the longest Italian railway tunnel, near San Benedetto Val di Sambro. 15 people died in the blast and 267 were injured (2 of them died in hospital). A bomb had been placed on the train by a mobster, acting as part of a large plot involving mobsters from Sicily, Naples and Rome, neo-fascist terrorists, and the covert masonic lodge P2. Later a former right-wing MP was sentenced for giving explosives to a mobster who was involved in the plot.
• 1984 – United Kingdom – A passenger train overruns a signal and collides with a freight train at Wembley Central station, London. Three people are killed.^[20]

1985

• January 13, 1985 – Ethiopia – Awash rail disaster: A derailment hurled a train into a ravine at Imperial Railway Company of Ethiopia, near Awash, killing at least 428 people. This accident is the worst railroad disaster in Africa.
• February 23, 1985 – India – Rajnandgaon train fire, Madhya Pradesh: More than 50 people are killed when an express train catches fire.^[9]
• March 23, 1985 – Australia – Trinder Park, Queensland: Two people were killed and 31 injured when two electric multiple units collided head on.^[21]
• June 11, 1985 – Israel – HaBonim disaster, HaBonim: 21 people killed, including 19 school children in a collision between a bus on a school field trip and a train going from Haifa to Tel Aviv near HaBonim.^[22]
• June 13, 1985 – India – Agra rail disaster: 38 people are killed in a collision at Agra.^[9]
• September 14, 1985 – Switzerland – A Lausanne–Morges passenger train head-on collided with two electric locomotives at Denges, Morges, in an incident caused by railroad worker missed switching point at safety catch point, killing five people and injuring 56.^[23]
• December 22, 1985 – Italy – An electric locomotive collides with a freight train in Coronella, Ferrara, Italy, killing 10 people and injuring 11.^[6]

1986

• February 8, 1986 – Canada – Hinton train collision, Dalehurst, Alberta: 23 lives lost when Via Rail passenger train and CN freight train collide head-on. This resulted in the adoption of stricter crew scheduling practice and a complete rewrite of the operating rules.
• February 17, 1986 – Chile – Queronque rail accident, a Valparaíso–Santiago express train collided head-on with local train, near Limache. The official death toll was 58 people with 510 injured. The tragedy prompted to switch off the full express route.
• March 9, 1986 – United Kingdom – A passenger train is in a head-on collision with two light engines at Chinley, Derbyshire due to a signalman's error. Lack of training and a power cut are contributory factors. One person is killed.^[24]
• March 10, 1986 – India – Khagaria rail disaster, over 50 people are killed in a collision in Bihar.^[9]
• May 18, 1986 – United States – Great Dismal Swamp Derailment, an excursion train pulled by Norfolk and Western 611 on Norfolk Southern Railway derailed in the Great Dismal Swamp near Suffolk, VA. 12 passenger cars derailed, 3 being flipped over entirely. 150 people where injured 7 critically. Cause determined to be worn wheel flange that picked a switch. Resulted in Norfolk Southern requiring tightlock couplers on all passenger equipment and imposing a 40 mph speed restriction on all steam locomotives.^[25]
• June 15, 1986 – United Kingdom – An express passenger train is derailed at Motherwell, Lanarkshire due to a broken rail.^[3]

Main article: Colwich rail crash

• July 8, 1986 – United States – A CSX Transportation freight train derailed along the Great Miami River in Miamisburg, Ohio, igniting phosphorus contained in some of the tanker cars and creating a massive toxic cloud. The evacuation of approximately 30,000 people across Montgomery County, Ohio, as a result was the largest evacuation in Ohio history. 569 persons were treated for various injuries, more than $3.5 million in property damage occurred, and more than $1 billion in lawsuits resulted. The accident was the second major rail disaster in Miamisburg within an eight-year period.
• September 19, 1986 – United Kingdom – An express passenger train overruns signals at Colwich, Staffordshire and comes to halt foul of a junction. Another express passenger train is in collision with it, killing one person and injuring 75. Thirty-two people are hospitalised.^[26]

November 8, 1986 – Bangkok, Thailand

• November 8, 1986 – Thailand – Bangkok: 5 people die and 7 are injured when an unmanned train runaway from the maintenance depot for 15 kilometer at a speed of 50 km/h toward Hua Lamphong station and hit the buffer stop.
• December 28, 1986 – Japan – An out of service train fell onto a fish processing factory, caused by strong wind at Amarube railroad bridge, Kasumi, Hyogo. One train conductor and five factory workers are killed.^[27]

1987

• January 4, 1987 – United States – 1987 Maryland train collision, Chase, Maryland: The Amtrak Colonial express train, highballing at 130 miles per hour (210 km/h), slammed into a consist of Conrail freight locomotives whose engineer had ignored a stop signal and had fouled the Northeast Corridor mainline at Gunpow Interlocking. The force of the impact completely destroyed the lead Amtrak locomotive and derailed the rest of the train, killing the Amtrak engineer, a lounge car attendant and 14 passengers. The subsequent investigation revealed that the in-cab signaling system of the Conrail lead locomotive was inoperative and that the Conrail crew had been smoking marijuana. This notorious accident, Amtrak's most deadly at the time, caused the US railroad industry to tighten up drug use detection among operational personnel and subsequently led to the federal certification of locomotive engineers
• February 20, 1987 – United Kingdom – A freight train runs away and is derailed by trap points at Chinley, Derbyshire. Another train runs into the wreckage.^[19]
• March 24, 1987 – United Kingdom – A freight train overran a signal and was in a head-on collision with a passenger train at Clink Road Junction, Somerset. Several people are seriously injured.^[28]
• July 8, 1987 – India – A Deccan of Hyderabad-Hazrat Nizamuddin of Delhi Dakshin Express derailed at Macherial, Andhra Pradesh, killing 53.^[9]
• August 6, 1987 – United Kingdom – A merry-go-round train runs away and is derailed by trap points at Baddesley, Warwickshire.^[29]
• August 7, 1987 – Soviet Union – Kamensk-Shakhtinsky rail disaster: A freight train collides with standing passenger train in Kamenskaya station, Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov Oblast, killing 106 people.
• October 19, 1987 – Indonesia – Bintaro train crash: A commuter train from Rangkasbitung with 600 passengers collides head-on with another commuter train with 300 passengers bound for Merak, at Bintaro Jaya, south of Jakarta, killing at least 156 people, injuring at least 300. Indonesia's worst rail accident in history.
• October 19, 1987 – United Kingdom – Glanrhyd Bridge collapse: Four people died when a passenger train from Swansea to Shrewsbury fell off a bridge that had collapsed due to exceptional flood conditions of the river beneath the bridge acting on its piers.

1988

• January 14, 1988 – United States – Thompsontown, Pennsylvania: Two Conrail freight trains collide head-on after one train ignores a signal. The engineers and brakemen on both trains were killed, and damages totaled $6 million. The crash was attributed to crew fatigue.^[30][31]
• January 19, 1988 – East Germany – Forst Zinna rail disaster: A Soviet tank in Forst Zinna gets stuck on a level crossing and gets hit by an express train. 6 people die, 33 are injured.^[13]
• January 1988 – United Kingdom – A freight train is sent along a siding at Tavistock Junction, Devon and crashes through the buffer stop due to a pointsman's error.^[32]
• March 23, 1988 – Spain – Juneda, Catalonia. 10 children and 5 adults die when a train slams into a bus on an unbarriered level crossing.^[33]
• March 24, 1988 – China – No.311 Nanjing–Hangzhou express train Head-on collides with No.208 Changsha–Shanghai express train in Nanxiang, Jiading, Shanghai, killing 29 people, including two Japanese high school students, and injuring 100.^[34]
• June 4, 1988 – Soviet Union – a 120-ton freight train explodes damaging 150 nearby buildings at Arzamas railroad station, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, killing at least 73 people.
• June 14, 1988 – United Kingdom – A freight train overruns signals and is derailed by trap points at Copyhold Junction, West Sussex.^[35]
• June 27, 1988 – France – Gare de Lyon train accident, Gare de Lyon, Paris: After brake failure, runaway train hits stationary rush-hour train in station, 56 people killed, over 50 injured.
• July 8, 1988 – India – Peruman railway accident - According to Press Trust of India report, a Bangalore–Trivandrum Island Express derails and plunges into Ashtamudi Lake on the outskirts of Kollam, Kerala, 107 people drowned.^[9]
• August 16, 1988 – Soviet Union – A high-speed train traveling from Leningrad to Moscow derails near Bologoye, killing 30 people and injuring about 180.^[36]
• December 12, 1988 – United Kingdom – Clapham Junction rail crash, London: wrong side failure from electrical short circuit caused by faulty signal maintenance, 35 people dead, more than 100 injured.

1989

• February 2, 1989 – United States – A runaway train crashes into parked rail cars in the Helena Train Wreck.
• March 4, 1989 – United Kingdom – Purley Station rail crash, London, England: As one train crosses over from one track to another, a second train runs a red signal and collides with the first train; the accident leaves six people dead and 94 injured.
• March 6, 1989 – United Kingdom – Glasgow Bellgrove rail accident, two commuter trains crash at Bellgrove station in the East End of Glasgow. One passenger and the driver of one of the trains were killed.
• April 3, 1989 – Italy – Two cars of the train from Bari derailed and slammed against the rail at San Severo, Foggia, killing eight and injuring 20.^[6]
• April 16, 1989 – India – Karnataka express train derailed at Lalitpur, Uttar Pradesh, killing 75 people.^[9]
• May 12, 1989 – United States – San Bernardino train disaster, San Bernardino, California: A Southern Pacific Railroad freight train derails on Duffy Street after descending the very steep Cajon Pass, killing two crew members and two children, ages 7 and 9. Eleven homes were severely damaged or completely destroyed in the accident. Thirteen days later fuel leaking from a pipe line damaged in the recovery ignites, killing 2 people and causing further damage to homes.
• June 4, 1989 – Soviet Union – Ufa train disaster: 575 people are killed and over 600 wounded when two trains pass near a leaking natural gas line which explodes.
• August 10, 1989 – Mexico – San Rafael River train disaster, train carrying 330 people goes off a bridge into the San Rafael River, killing 112.^[37][38]
• November 1, 1989 – India – Udyan Abha Toofan express train derailed at Sakaldiha, Bihar, killing at least 48 people.^[9]
• November 6, 1989 – United Kingdom – two diesel multiple units are involved in a head-on collision at Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Seventeen people are taken to hospital.^[7]
• November 16, 1989 – Italy – In Crotone, two passenger trains collided on the Crotone–Catanzaro line, killing 12 people and injuring 32.^[6]

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

• Earnshaw, Alan (1989). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 5. Penryn: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-35-4. 
• Earnshaw, Alan (1990). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 6. Penryn: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-37-0. 
• Earnshaw, Alan (1991). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 7. Penryn: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-50-8. 
• Earnshaw, Alan (1993). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 8. Penryn: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-52-4. 
• Haine, Edgar A. (1993). Railroad wrecks. Associated University Presses. ISBN 978-0-8453-4844-4. 
• Hall, Stanley (1990). The Railway Detectives. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0 7110 1929 0. 
• 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 78104064. 
• Trevena, Arthur (1981). Trains in Trouble: Vol. 2. Redruth: Atlantic Books. ISBN 0-906899-03-6. 

External links

• Railroad train wrecks 1907-2007

Rail accidents Main topics Classification Boiler explosion Derailment Head-on collision Runaway Signal passed at danger Stop and examine Telescoping Train wreck Tram accident Chronology Before 1880 1880–99 1900–29 1930–49 1950–59 1960–69 1970–79 1980–89 1990–99 2000–09 2010–present Related lists Lists of rail accidents By country By death toll Boiler explosions Bridge failures Level crossing accidents Terrorist incidents Categories By country By type By year Deaths Fires Investigators Level crossing Involving fog Runaway train