List of rail accidents (1940–1949)

This is a list of rail accidents from 1940 to 1949.

1940 January 29 – Japan – At Ajikawaguchi Station in Osaka, a crowded commuter train crashes into gasoline tank cars, and burns; about 181 passengers die, and different sources give the number injured as 82, 92, 100, or 669. February 4 – United Kingdom – A train runs into a landslip at Watford Tunnel, Hertfordshire and is derailed. One person dies, six are injured. late February – Mexico – An express en route to the United States collides with a freight train at Querétaro, results in the deaths of 20 people. March 4 – Japan – In Yamagata Prefecture, a train emerges from a tunnel onto a bridge that has been destroyed by an avalanche. The locomotive and leading cars fall , results in the deaths of 37 people. March 5 – Finland – During the Winter War, children are being evacuated to neutral Sweden. At Iitala, near Tampere, during a blizzard, an evacuation train on the Helsinki-to-Tornio line collides head-on with a train that overran signals, and catches fire. Of the 21 people dead, 16 were children (including three from one family) and two were mothers. March 12 – Finland – Turenki rail accident – Turenki: A troop train and a freight train collide after being let on the same piece of track by mistake, leaving 39 people dead and 69 injured. This is still the worst train accident in Finland's history. March 14 – United States – Alamo, Texas: An oncoming train collides with a truck carrying more than 40 agricultural workers, results in the deaths of 34 people ranging in ages from ten to 48. The collision at the railroad crossing on Tower Road resulted in the most deaths on a Texas highway in the 20th century. A historical marker has been added to commemorate the passing of the great agricultural workers as well as a gathering during this time yearly. March 17 – Yugoslavia – A train on the line connecting Karlovac (now in Croatia) and Ljubljana (now in Slovenia) is derailed by a landslide between Ozalj and nearby Zaluka (both now in Croatia); 20 die. April 19 – United States – Little Falls Gulf Curve crash of 1940 – Little Falls, New York: The New York Central Lake Shore Limited, running from New York City to Chicago derails due to excessive speed on a curve resulting in the deaths of 31 and injuring nearly 140. The train had left Albany 21 minutes behind schedule and the engineer was trying to make up time. May 5 – France – A train from Paris to Montluçon is wrecked when a flood-weakened bridge collapses under it between Épineuil-le-Fleuriel and Vallon-en-Sully; 33 die and 46 are seriously injured. May 18 – France – Morgny-la-Pommeraye: During the mass movement of people resulting from the German invasion of Belgium, a train of Belgian refugees collides with a train of French refugees, resulting in the deaths of 53 people and injuring 128; the driver at fault is prosecuted for negligent homicide. July 31 – United States – Doodlebug disaster – Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, United States: The PRR "Doodlebug", a gasoline-electric interurban car, fails to take a siding and collides with an oncoming freight, causing the gas tanks to explode. The crew jump before the crash; all 43 passengers die as the wreck burns too intensely to allow rescuers near for half an hour. A federal investigation suggests the Doodlebug's driver had become disoriented due to carbon monoxide in a poorly ventilated cab. August 5 – British India – The Dacca Mail (Dacca is now Dhaka, Bangladesh) on the Eastern Bengal Railway is derailed at Jairampur, from Calcutta (now Kolkata) by track sabotage; 34 people dead and 50 injured. October 14 – United Kingdom – A London Midland and Scottish Railway express passenger train derails at Wembley, Middlesex when a platform barrow falls onto the track. A number of people die and many are injured. November 4 – United Kingdom – 1940 Norton Fitzwarren rail crash: A Great Western Railway train driver reads the signals for the main track when his train is on the relief track that ends there, and runs off the end of it. Coaches telescope, resulting in the deaths of 27 and injuring 75. Contributory causes include a nonstandard placement of signals and the invisibility of the tracks during the wartime blackout. November 14 – German-occupied Belgium – A train from Tienen collides with a stationary train in Diegem station, just outside Brussels; 21 die. November 19 – German-occupied Norway – Hommelvik train collision: Freight and passenger trains collide in Malvik Municipality, east of Trondheim; 22 die. Sabotage is suspected. December 3 – Spain – Velilla de Ebro: A westbound express from Barcelona is supposed to wait on a side track for an express from Madrid to Barcelona, but overshoots and the trains collide head-on at 4:00 am in weather, killing 47 people and injuring at least 64. December 19 – United States – The Seaboard Air Line Sunbeam and an Atlantic Coast Line freight collide at a right-angle crossing at Zephyrhills, Florida, killing Benjamin J. Green, engineer of the Sunbeam, in his cab, and injuring ten of the passengers and crew. "Trainmen on both railroads said they did not know what caused the accident, but believed the automatic signals had gone wrong. Normally, the passenger train would have had the right of way, they said."Associated Press, "Engineer Dies In Train Crash", The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Friday 20 December 1940, Volume 46, page 2. December(?) – Mexico – A repair train derails near Iguala and falls down a cliff. There are 71 deaths.

1941 January 6 – Hungary – An accident at Berettyóújfalu kills 20 soldiers. January 23 - Norway - Meråker train derailment, in Meråker Municipality, Norway, a freight train derailed on the Meråker line, 2 people were killed. February 10 – United Kingdom – A London and North Eastern Railway passenger train overruns signals and runs into the rear of an express train at Harold Wood, Essex. Seven people are killed and seventeen are seriously injured. February 15 – Spain – During a storm, an electric train on the metre-gauge railway from San Sebastián to Bilbao loses power and stops on a bridge at Zumaia. Then the wind increases and blows three cars of the train off the bridge and into the river below, killing 20 people and injuring over 100. February 21 – United States – Piedmont & Northern train no. 5, westbound through a curve near Fairmont Station, eight miles (13 km) west of Spartanburg, South Carolina, strikes rear of stopped freight. Flagman jumps from electric ex-Pennsylvania Railroad combine no. 350 before impact with steel caboose, but engineer killed. Fifteen other passengers in following ex-PRR trailer are injured.Fetters, Thomas T., and Swanson, Jr., Peter W., "Piedmont and Northern: The Great Electric System of the South", Golden West Books, San Marino, California, September 1974, Library of Congress number 74-14801, , pages 69–70 mid-March – Chile – An accident at Calera kills 20 people and injures at least 60. April 23 – Uganda Protectorate – A derailment near Kampala kills 20 people. April 28 – United Kingdom – The three rear cars of an 11-car London and North Eastern Railway express train from London to Newcastle are reserved for a party of about 100 teenage boys returning to Ampleforth College. Some of the boys begin playing with matches, accidentally starting a fire, but not initially understanding its severity. By the time the train is stopped at Westborough, the fire is spreading to all three cars, which are destroyed. Six of the boys are killed, including two sons of Hubert Pierlot, the Prime Minister in Exile of Belgium; seven more are injured. May(?) – Japanese Taiwan – At Kyujo, freight train from Takao (now Kaohsiung) crashes head-on into a passenger train from Keelung; 200 people are killed or injured. May 3 – United States – A freight train, pulled by Southern Pacific class AC-8 locomotive no. 4199, travelling at on the Southern Pacific's Coast Division suffers a catastrophic boiler explosion at Cooper, California. Four people are killed. July 2 – United Kingdom – An express train and a freight train collide at , Buckinghamshire. Five people are killed and 25 are injured. July 20 – Italy – On a viaduct near Como, an object protruding from a freight train smashes into a passenger train carrying workers to Germany; 30 are killed. July 24 – Canada – a regular Great Northern Railway passenger train–led by Great Northern H-5 class No. 1351–collided head-on with the second section of a Canadian National Railway Transcontinental train–led by Canadian National S-1-d class No. 3377–on a single-track mainline in the Brunette Valley near New Westminster, British Columbia; two people were killed, three were severely injured, and 21 passengers and crew received minor injuries. August 9 – Canada – a Canadian National Railways passenger train collides with a stationary engine at the Turcot Yards, Montreal, Quebec; the fireman is killed and the engineer is severely injured in the resulting boiler explosion. 53 of the passengers are injured. September 8 – A passenger interurban car along the Interstate Public Service line between Indianapolis and Seymour, Indiana collided with a work train south of Columbus, Indiana — the passenger car's motorman and a passenger would eventually succumb to their injuries as a result. Service ceased after the crash and was never restarted; this would be the end of the Indiana Railroad as well as interurban service to Indianapolis in general. September 16 – Japan – Aboshi Station: an express from Tokyo runs past signals and crashes into a stationary train for Kyoto; 63 people are killed and 67 injured, 19 seriously, and the driver of the express is detained by police. November 2 – France – At Paris Austerlitz station, an express from Orléans crashes into an empty train, killing 21 and injuring 7. November – United States – A Southern Pacific freight train suffers a break-in-two and the automatic emergency brake application stops the locomotive, a Southern Pacific class AC-8 cab-forward no. 4193 in Hasson Tunnel. The crew are asphyxiated, while the locomotive cooks on low flame for 36 hours before the oil-fuel shut-off valve between the locomotive and its tender can be reached. December 3 – Canada – A Canadian Pacific Railway train approaching Ottawa suddenly leaves the tracks, resulting in the death of the locomotive engineer and injuring 29 others.The Globe and Mail December 03, 1941 P.3 December 21 – Italy – An accident to the funicular on Mount Vesuvius kills 25 people. December 27 – Germany – In a snowstorm, a Berlin-Warsaw express crashes into a stationary freight train at Leichholz station (now Drzewce, Poland) between Frankfurt an der Oder and Posen (now Poznań, Poland). There are 44 deaths, although eye-witness accounts report higher numbers. December 28 – German-occupied France – On the line between Armentières and Berguettes (now Isbergues), two passenger trains collide head-on between Laventie and La Gorgue. One source says 56 people are killed and 40 injured; another says from 67 to perhaps over 100 dead.

December 30 – United Kingdom – Eccles rail crash; A westbound passenger train passes signals at danger in fog in the wartime blackout and collides with an eastbound train at 30 mph (48 km/h); 23 killed.

1942 February 13 – United Kingdom – On the Holbrook colliery siding near Beighton on the London and North Eastern Railway, uncoupled freight cars are being shunted. A load of seven metal plates each weighing and wide is being carried on a car wide by loading them on a slight diagonal, a common practice for plates up to wide. The shunt is too rough and the impact shifts one plate enough to foul the adjacent track, but this is not noticed. It contacts a 13-car troop train moving at on the Nottingham-Sheffield main line and smashes into the cars. Of about 400 passengers, 14 soldiers are killed and 35 require hospitalization.