Mahakaushal Express derails: A look at the deadliest rail accidents this decade

The Mahakaushal Express train is the latest train derailment to occur in India, the second within this year. A look at the railway’s track record this decade.

More than 50 people were injured on Thursday when eight coaches of the Jabalpur-Nizamuddin Mahakaushal Express (12189) derailed near Kulpahad station in Uttar Pradesh’s Mahoba district.

Rescue workers and officials inspect derailed coaches of the Mahakaushal Express train at Mahoba, some 140kms south-west of Kanpur, on March 30, 2017. More than 50 people were reportedly injured in the accident.(AFP Photo)

The Railways has constituted an inquiry amid speculation that a crack in the tracks caused the accident. But this is not the first time the colonial-era public carrier has seen an accident because of poor infrastructure and inadequate maintenance. The public transporter that carries more than 23 million passengers daily has seen a spate of attacks in the last five years. Here are the deadliest:

• January 22, 2017: At least 32 people were killed and over 50 injured after seven coaches and the engine of Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Express derailed in Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh.

• November 20, 2016: As many as 142 people were killed and more than 200 injured when 14 coaches of the Indore-Patna Express train derailed in Kanpur Dehat district of Uttar Pradesh.

• March 20, 2015: At least thirty-eight people died and more than 150 injured when the Dehradun-Varanasi Janata Express derailed near Bachhrawan in Uttar Pradesh

• May 26, 2014: Twenty-two people lost their lives when the Gorakhdham Express came on the same track as a freight train and rammed into it near Khalilabad station in Sant Kabir Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh. Over 50 were injured.

• May 4, 2014: At least 20 people were killed and about 100 injured when the Diva Junction-Sawantwadi passenger train derailed between Nagothane and Roha stations in Maharashtra’s Raigad district.

• December 28, 2013: Twenty six people were killed in the Bangalore-Nanded Express train in Anantpur district of Andhra Pradesh after a fire broke out in an AC 3-tier coach. 54 passengers were expected to be on board in the B1 coach completely gutted in the fire.

• June 30, 2012: Thirty-five passengers were burnt to death and at least 25 injured when a coach of the New Delhi-Chennai Tamil Nadu Express caught fire near Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.

A parliamentary standing committee report, presented in October 2016, said between 2003 and 2015, a total of 239 accidents happened on the network of the Indian Railways and 208 of these – or 80% of all accidents – occurred because of derailments.