In 2019, no deaths were recorded due to railway accidents in India which made it the safest way to travel in India in 57 years which is also a record in itself according to official data.
However, it did witness staff deaths last year there hadn’t been any passenger deaths in the last 12 months.
In 2019-20, there were no accidents involving passenger trains, but some derailments of goods trains have occurred so far. While 33 passengers were injured in the past 12 months, except for the deaths of a few employees, no passenger deaths were reported.
The data for previous years is not very encouraging. In 2018-19, 16 deaths took place while in 2017-18, 28 deaths were recorded. The worst year margin in the5 years was 2016-17 where 195 deaths were recorded.
Between 1990-1995, 500 deaths related to Indian railways would get recorded every year which amounted to 2400 deaths and at least 4300 injuries. Things have improved since then.
Collisions, derailments, fires, and accidental jumps are what contribute to these deaths. The category of deaths is further segregated into passenger deaths and staff deaths.
Injuries due to these accidents have also come down over the years. In 2016-17, 365 people were injured in various accidents including the derailment of 15 coaches of the Ajmer-Sealdah Express on December 28, 2016, when 44 people injured. Other instances include the Hirakhand Express derailment which injured 68 passengers and staffs alike. Khatauli and Kalinga Utkal Express are also prime examples.
