Last 15 years and 40 major accidents. A humongous figure for 'the lifeline in limbo' that operates over 11,000 trains every day. This year was no different. The month of October alone became a witness to two major train mishaps.

Over 100 people were killed and a same number wounded in the tragedy that struck Andhra Pradesh on October 29. The state was already wrestling with floods.

The Delta Express crashed near the town of Veligonda in Nalgonda district, about 30km south of Hyderabad. Seven of the 14 coaches and the engine of the train were derailed and at least three coaches fell into the floodwaters.

Moving further up the southern India state, at least 16 people were killed and 150 injured when six coaches of Bundelkhand Express went off the tracks near Datia in Madhya Pradesh and rammed into a railway control cabin on October 3, 2005.

A head-on collision between freight and passenger express train killed 18 in Vadodara, Gujarat on April 21, 2005.