List of Russian rail accidents explained

This is a list of Russian rail accidents.

Russian Empire

!Accident!Date!Location!Killed!Injured!Type!Description
12 August 1840 Shushary, Saint Petersburg678CollisionTwo trains collided on Tsarskoye Selo Railway.
4 September 1851near Klin4CollisionTwo trains collided near Klin.
24 December 1875near Odesa~140~120DerailmentA train was derailed.
19 November 1879Moscow00Terrorist incidentAn imperial train carrying Alexander II of Russia derailed after a bomb was exploded.
Tcherny railway accident13 July 1882Tcherny, Tula Oblast4235DerailmentA train was derailed near Tcherny during heavy rain.
Borki train disaster29 October 1888Near Borki station, Kharkov Governorate2168DerailmentAn imperial train carrying Alexander III of Russia derailed. Alexander III of Russia was not injured
1 May 1897Valga58~100DerailmentA military train was derailed. The cause of the crash was the erosion of the embankment by heavy rain and too high speed
1 August 1905Zima station (Irkutsk Oblast)20+80DerailmentMilitary train was derailed.
16 December 1916Between Saint Petersburg and Petrozavodsk46DerailmentA train was derailed due to the overspeed.
13 January 1917near Petrozavodsk329DerailmentTrain carrying Austrian prisoners of war derailed.

Soviet Union

AccidentDateLocationKilledInjuredTypeDescription
October 1920Pogranichny, Primorsky Krai~100SeveralDerailmentAt Pogranichny, Primorsky Krai, the mail train from Vladivostok to Harbin, China wrecks killing about 100.[1]
Aerowagon crash24 July 1921near Serpukhov715DerailmentAn experimental high-speed railcar derailed. Its inventor Valerian Abakovsky was among the victims of the disaster
8 September 1923Omsk82150DerailmentAn express train derails at Omsk killing 82 and injuring 150.
October 1924FireOn the line from Moscow to Ivanovo and Vasenensk, a mixed train carrying passengers and gasoline is destroyed by fire. It was said that of 200 people on board only 27 survived, but the Soviet authorities suppressed the story.
30 March 1925Moscow1092CollisionTwo passenger trains collided near Sokolniki station.
5 February 1926Moscow522DerailmentThe train failed to slow down and crashed into the platform of the Leningradsky railway station.
23 September 1929Zuyevka30+DerailmentA train from Moscow to Siberia derails at Zuyevka, between Kursk and Kharkiv (now in Ukraine); at least 30 were killed.
16 April 1930Domodedovo4523+FireDenatured alcohol spilled and was ignited inside a train. The fire results in the deaths of 45 people and seriously injures 23.
20 May 1930Chernaya2829CollisionAt Chernaya on the Moscow-Kazan line, the collision of a passenger and a freight train results in the deaths of 28 and severely injures 29.
29 June 19302228DerailmentA train from Irkutsk to Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) is derailed near its destination due to a signalman's error; 22 die and 28 are seriously injured.
8 September 1930Moscow1648CollisionTwo passenger trains collided near Pererva station.
September 1931ExplosionA troop train southwest of Leningrad explodes with heavy loss of life.
2 January 1932Moscow68130CollisionAt Kosino, just outside Moscow, a train moving at 40mph hits the rear of a stopped suburban train. Although there is time, nobody acts to protect the wreckage and a train of empty freight wagons crashes into it. Altogether 68 people are killed and 130 injured, and 11 railwaymen are arrested for criminal negligence.
16 October 1932Moscow3651CollisionThe Black Sea express train, coming from Sochi, struck a freight car that had been mistakenly switched to the express tracks at Lublinov station, eleven kilometers from Moscow, telescoping five cars, three of them passenger coaches.[2]
4 March 1934Moscow1952CollisionA stationary train is struck by another one, killing 19 and injuring 52. The enginemen of the second train are sentenced to death and three other railwaymen to prison.
12 March 1934Tavatuy, Sverdlovsk Oblast3368CollisionA passenger train runs past signals and crashes into a freight train
6 January 1935Porbelo2356CollisionAt Porbelo on the railway from Leningrad to Moscow, an express from Leningrad to Tiflis (now Tbilisi, Georgia) is stopped by a broken rail. The following train, an express to Moscow, runs past signals and crashes into it.
22 June 1936Karymskoye5152CollisionAt Karymskoye, a train is allowed to move while the track ahead is occupied. The rear-end collision kills 51 people and injures 52; the stationmaster is sentenced to death and eight other people to prison.
Vereshchyovka train disaster24 January 1944600-700?DerailmentA train with soldier and refugees derailed because of bridge collapse.
6 March 1946Irkutsk Oblast2029CollisionTwo trains collided in tunnel and caught fire.
7 December 1946Ob, Novosibirsk Oblast110133CollisionA freight train passed a warning signal and crashed into a standing passenger train at high speed.
6 August 1952Drovnino, Moscow Oblast109211DerailmentA passenger train collided with a horse and derailed.
28 April 1957Chelyabinsk Oblast3214Level crossing crashA passenger bus collided with a train at a railway crossing.[3]
30 June 1958Leningrad Oblast30175DerailmentSuburban train derailed near Toksovo.[4]
2 June 1959Krasnoyarsk Krai6561CollisionTwo trains collided and caught fire.
10 May 1962Moscow732CollisionTwo crowded commuter trains collided on National Railway Day while one of them was stopped at a junction in the north part of Moscow. Foreign newspapermen and diplomats living nearby reported seeing scores of ambulances, but Soviet authorities imposed a cover-up.[5]
12 June 1965Leningrad Oblast5CollisionTwo trains collided and caught fire.
28 August 1968Moscow Oblast~76CollisionTwo trains collided near Domodedovo.
26 July 1972Tyumen Oblast5816CollisionTwo trains collided near Lamenskaya station.
5 September 1975Moscow Oblast1835CollisionA suburban train collided with a freight train near Noginsk.
16 February 1976Jugla4661CollisionThree trains collided in Latvian SSR.
2 May 1977Minsk Oblast19-2282CollisionA passenger train crashed into a suburban one standing at the platform.
27 February 1977near Leningrad17FireYounost train between Moscow and Leningrad caught fire.
6 December 1978Kurovskoye20ExplosionThe watchman, for unspecified reasons, shot at the car, which contained explosives that exploded.
13 September 1980Moscow OblastCollisionTwo trains collided near Serpukhov.
Kamensk-Shakhtinsky rail disaster7 August 1987Kamensk-Shakhtinsky107114CollisionA freight train collided with standing passenger train.
Arzamas train disaster4 June 1988Arzamas, Gorky Oblast911500ExplosionThree goods wagons carrying a total of 118 tons of hexogen (RDX) exploded on a railway crossing
16 August 1988Bologoye31100+DerailmentExpress train Avrora was derailed and caught fire.
Ufa train disaster4 June 1989near Ufa575700ExplosionNatural gas leaking from a pipeline is ignited by wheel sparks from two trains traveling near the site of the leak; the resulting explosion killed 575 and injured 700 in one of the worst railway accidents in Soviet and Russian history.

Russian Federation

AccidentDateLocationKilledInjuredTypeDescription
Podsosenka train disaster3 March 1992Nelidovo, Tver Oblast43108CollisionA passenger train inbound from Riga to Moscow failed to stop at a red signal and collided with an oncoming freight train at Podsosenka station near Nelidovo, Tver Oblast; the collision started a fire which spread to the passenger cars.
26 September 1996Rostov Oblast2218Level crossing crashA collision between a diesel locomotive and a school bus between Bataysk and Salsk in Rostov Oblast. Nineteen are killed, including 18 children. 28 September was declared a national day of mourning.[6]
8 November 2001Trans-Siberian Railway00DerailmentA nuclear waste train from Bulgaria crashes at midnight between Krasnoyarsk and Kemerovo on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Fourteen of the 20 tanker-wagons derail and the line is closed for about 12 hours. One kilometre of track is damaged.[7]
16 June 2005Tver Oblast00DerailmentBetween Zubtsov and Aristovo in Tver Oblast, 27 of 60 fuel oil tankers bound from Moscow to Riga derail at a speed of about 70km/h, about 300 tonnes of fuel leaks. of track are destroyed and the Volga River was contaminated briefly. The crash was blamed on poor track maintenance.[8]
12 January 2006Krasnodar226Level crossing crashA collision between a bus and a train at an unpatrolled railway level crossing in Krasnodar killed 22 people and badly injured another 6. All the victims were workers at a factory on their way home aboard the bus, which was almost unrecognisable after the crash. The train's engine car derailed but no-one on the train was hurt.[9]
18 September 2006Voronezh Oblast00CollisionA collision between stations Ikorets and Bityug (Voronezh Oblast), between freight train 3040 moving backward without control with train 2104, stopped at red signal behind. 43 freight cars fully damaged. No one was hurt.
7 July 2013Krasnodar Krai075DerailmentAt least 75 are injured when a train from Novosibirsk to Sochi derails between Krylovskaya and Kislyakovka in Krasnodar Krai.[10]
Naro-Fominsk rail crash20 May 2014Naro-Fominsk651CollisionMoldovan Railways passenger train crashed into a Ukrainian Railways freight train that had derailed.
2014 Moscow Metro derailment15 July 2014Moscow24160DerailmentAn outbound train derailed due to a weathered track, killing 24, and injuring 160, while travelling between Park Pobedy and Slavyansky Bulvar stations of the Arbatsko-Pokrovskaya Line.
8 August 2015Mordovia05DerailmentFour railcars of Passenger train number 233 en route from Yekaterinburg to Adler, Krasnodar Krai run off the rails in Mordovia. Five passengers are injured.[11]
8 April 2017Moscow050CollisionTwo passenger trains collide in Moscow, injuring about 50 people.[12]
6 October 2017Vladimir Oblast165Level crossing crashA train hits a bus carrying Uzbekistani passengers in Vladimir Oblast and kills 16 people.[13]
20 February 2021Amur Oblast00DerailmentIn Skovorodinsky, Amur Oblast, 25 cars of a coal train derail on the Trans-Baikal Railway. There were no injuries.[14]
22 November 2023Ulyanovsk Oblast025CollisionTwo trains collided.
26 June 2024Komi3~50DerailmentA passenger train derailed during heavy rainfall.[15]
15 July 2024Belgorod Oblast10CollisionTwo trains collided.[16]
2024 Russia train-truck collision29 July 2024Volgograd Oblast152Level crossing crashA passenger train collided with a truck. 9 cars derailed, 7 of them overturned.[17] The driver of the truck later died in hospital.

See also

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. "Terrible Railway Smash in the Far East— 100 Reported Killed", Manchester Guardian, October 25, 1920, p. 6
  2. Wire service, "Casualties Heavy in Russian Train Crash", The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Wednesday 19 October 1932, Volume 39, page 3.
  3. Web site: Панкова . Инна . 2017-03-31 . «Каша из тел». Рассекречены данные о ДТП, которое произошло 60 лет назад . 2024-03-22 . AiF . ru.
  4. Web site: 2016-08-12 . Железнодорожные трагедии. Катастрофы, произошедшие на пути Петербург-Москва . 2024-03-22 . AiF . ru.
  5. News: 1962-05-11 . Wreck Mars Railway Day in Moscow . Globe and Mail . Toronto . 2.
  6. Web site: 2007-03-21 . ru:Траурные дни в России . http://www.rian.ru/spravka/20070321/62329953.html . . ru.
  7. Web site: Spent nuclear fuel arrived at Zheleznogorsk . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071215220144/http://bellona.org/english_import_area/international/russia/nuke_industry/siberia/zheleznogorsk/22270 . December 15, 2007 . February 24, 2007 . Bellona.
  8. Web site: June 16, 2005 . Train carrying petroleum derailed not far from Moscow . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20051201162004/http://newsfromrussia.com/accidents/2005/06/16/60346.html . December 1, 2005 . February 3, 2009 . Pravda.
  9. News: AP, AFP . January 13, 2006 . Some 22 Killed When Russian Train Collides With Bus . Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
  10. News: 8 July 2013 . Russian Passenger Train Derails In Krasnodar . 16 April 2016 . Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
  11. Web site: 8 August 2015 . LIVE: Four railcars of a passenger train en route from Yekaterinburg to Adler ran off the rails in Mordovia on Saturday . 10 October 2016 . RIA Novosti . ru.
  12. Web site: Russian Officials Say at Least 50 Injured In Moscow Train Crash . 2021-04-05 . RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty . en.
  13. News: Train Hits Bus Carrying Uzbek Passengers In Russia, Killing At Least 16. . 2017-10-06 . RadioFreeEurope . Vladimir, Russia.
  14. Web site: 20 February 2021 . Coal-Loaded Train Derails, 25 Wagons Come Together in Russia . 21 February 2021 . RayHaber RaillyNews.
  15. Web site: 2 dead, 1 missing and dozens injured in Russia after a passenger train derailment . 2024-06-27 . ABC News . en.
  16. Web site: 2024-07-14 . Train Derails Near Iron Ore Plant in Russia’s Belgorod – Reports . 2024-07-15 . The Moscow Times . en.
  17. News: Russian train smashes into truck, injuring 52 . Reuters.