There have been a number of train accidents on the South Australian railway network. The first known incident in this list occurred in 1873 in Smithfield.

Fatal accidents Glanville, 1880 On 23 September 1880, a woman was run over and killed by an engine at Glanville. She was walking towards the station at Glanville close to the line and within a very short distance of the platform.

Dry Creek, 1890 On 21 July 1890, James Cowan, a member of the South Australian Parliament, and his fellow passenger, Mark Bullimore, the local branch manager of the General Electric Supply Company of Australia, were killed when Cowan's horse-drawn buggy collided with a train in Dry Creek, at the intersection of Grand Junction Road and the main railway line running north from Adelaide. The men were proponents of a battery-powered tram trialled in Adelaide the previous year.

Walloway, 1901 On 16 November 1901, two people were killed. The accident was sufficient to condemn in the most scathing terms those who were responsible for the inefficient brake system. There were no lights to show the driver that he was approaching the station.

Brachina, 1911 On 28 January 1911, a section of the permanent way was washed away in a local flood. A mixed train came upon the broken section of line and was derailed. The engine driver was killed and the fireman was injured; however, passengers and the guard escaped injury.

Fords, 1913 On 13 February 1913, there was a washaway near Fords. An engine and several trucks were derailed. The engine driver was washed away and drowned.

Mile End, 1924 On 8 January 1924, a woman was knocked down and killed at the Mile-End crossing by a train bound for Sleep's Hill.

Cutana, 1928 On 15 February 1928, the fireman of a goods train travelling on the narrow gauge Broken Hill line was crushed to death as the result of a washaway. The fireman of the train was killed.

Seacliff, 1942 On 23 May 1942, Sgt. Stanley Patton, Temporary Warrant Officer Class II of Seacliff was fatally hit and killed by a train at Seacliff station. Australian Army Service Corps, Meritorious Service Medal. Son of Andrew and Jane E Patton, husband of Kate Gallear Patton and Father of Fred and Dora.

An inquest into the death of Stanley Patton. 52 - a member of the Australian Military Forces, of Myrtle road, Seacliff, following the incident found inconclusive evidence as to how Patton came to be on the railway line. The coroners report stated that 20-30 people got off the train at the same time as Patton when the train stopped at Seacliff; including several soldiers witnessed on the rear carriages by the ticket officer. It is unclear why the first constable on site was unable to locate a witness or why the soldiers did not comment.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/128556486?searchTerm=Stanley%20Patton

PATTON.—On May 23, at Adelaide (result of accident), Warrant Officer Stanley Patton (late 9th Field Bakery, A.A.S.C. and 50th Battalion, First A.I.F., beloved husband or Kate Gallear Patton, of 47 Myrtle rd., Seacliff, and loving father of Dora and Fred. Aged 52 years.

Copley, 1944 On 11 May 1944, four people were killed. A goods train ran into the rear of a halted troop train at Copley, 604 km north of Adelaide, telescoping the rear cars and resulting in 4 deaths and 27 injuries. The troop train, consisting of 16 carriages, 4 fully laden goods trucks and a brake van, was pulled by a T class locomotive. However, the consist was too heavy for the loco, and it had problems with its injectors after climbing a steep hill. The loco was low on water, and uncoupled from the train to 'run light' to the nearest watering spot and refill. While it was away, the goods train entered the same section of track and struck the rear of the troop train. Only the fact that many troops were lying down saved them from serious injury and decapitation, as the tops of several carriages were shorn off in the impact.

Port Germein, 1947 On 10 October 1947, five men were killed instantly and another critically injured when the motor buck-board in which they were travelling from Port Pirie to Whyalla was wrecked by a mixed train at a railway crossing on the Port Pirie-Port Augusta road, about a quarter of a mile from Port Germein. The train, which was travelling from Port Augusta to Port Pirie, struck the buckboard with great force, smashing it to pieces and hurling the occupants many yards along the line.

Cavan, 1948 On 20 December 1948, five people were killed when a railway engine and tender hit a tourer car broadside. The dead included a woman (wife of the driver), their three daughters and another relative.

Paratoo, 1960 On 27 December 1960, the driver of the Broken Hill Express was killed in a derailment caused by buckled rails.

Wasleys Crossing (Gawler), 1970 On 12 April 1970, 17 people were killed and forty-five injured when a double-decker bus crashed into the side of a two-carriage Bluebird passenger train at Wasleys Crossing, near Gawler.

Salisbury, 2002 On 24 October 2002, four people were killed when The Ghan interstate passenger train (4AL8), a bus carrying schoolchildren, and a car collided at a level crossing.

Virginia, 2007 On 16 November 2007, two people were killed. A small passenger van drove into the path of a Patrick Portlink freight train (6117) at the Moloney Road passive level crossing near Virginia. As a result of the collision, the two occupants in the van were fatally injured. The locomotive crew were shaken but not hurt. The train sustained minor damage but the van was destroyed, the level crossing was closed after another accident two weeks later.

Bumbunga, 2009 On 1 August 2009, the lead locomotive of Pacific National freight train 5PM5 collided with a utility motor vehicle at the Bumbunga level crossing. The utility vehicle was seriously damaged as a result of the collision and the male driver and a female passenger were fatally injured.

The man and woman who died were in a car on the Lochiel–Blyth road when an Adelaide-bound freight train hit the vehicle just before 4 pm, killing them instantly. The train, travelling at over , hit the car. The SA-registered, late-model Ford Falcon Utility was split in two. The front half slid across the road and remained near the crossing on its roof. The rear section was dragged over . When the train halted from impact, a car door was still lodged in the train's front. The crossing, near the entrance to the Snowtown–Bumbunga road, had no boomgates or flashing lights at the time. After the incident, the crossing was upgraded to active protection with boom gates and lights, with the upgrade completed by January 2010.

According to Adelaide Now (2009), 33 people had died in SA level-crossing collisions and another 71 were seriously injured since 2001.

Nantawarra, 2010 On 22 May 2010, freight train 7MP7 collided with a young male child on the track adjacent to a level crossing near Nantawarra in the mid-north of South Australia. The child was fatally injured as a result of the collision. The investigation found that prior to the collision the child had wandered away from the family home and had unknowingly placed himself in a place of extreme danger on the railway track and there was little the train drivers could do to avoid the collision.

Weeroona Island, 2012 On 19 March 2012, there was a fatal crash near Port Pirie in South Australia between a car and a freight train. The crash happened about 9:45am ACDT on Port Flinders Causeway at Weeroona Island, off National Highway One, about seven kilometres north of Port Pirie.

Mallala, 2020 On 27 February 2020, Pacific National freight train 3PM7 collided with a four-wheel drive containing two adults on the track adjacent to a private level crossing near Mallala Road, south of Mallala in the south-east of South Australia. The investigation found that prior to the collision, the crossing had no warning signals or barriers to indicate an approaching train. The two adults were fatally injured as a result of the collision.

Culburra, 2020 On 19 April 2020, freight train 5PM5 collided with a truck containing an adult male on the track adjacent to the level crossing near Culburra in the south-east of South Australia. The adult truck driver was fatally injured as a result of the collision.

East Grange, 2023 On 1 March 2023, a 74 year old woman was hit by an Adelaide bound train while crossing the line at East Grange railway station. The woman died two days later.

Ascot Park, 2023 On 18 April 2023, police and paramedics were called to Sixth Avenue and Railway Terrace in Ascot Park after a man on a bicycle was struck by an Adelaide bound train. The man, a 41-year-old from Adelaide, died at the scene.

Bindarrah, 2023 On December 31 2023, emergency services were called to the Barrier Highway after Pacific National train 7SP5 with NR41/NR79 collided with a truck. The crash caused the deaths of both train drivers. The truck driver was uninjured.

Accidents involving injuries only Adelaide Hills, 1886 On 26 April 1886, a train bringing home many racegoers from the Balhannah races was wrecked at 16-Mile Siding in the Adelaide Hills. There were over 500 passengers on the train. Three of the train crew sustained injuries.

Bowden, 1895 On 10 June 1895, a boy was knocked down and injured by a train at a level crossing in Bowden.

Cudmore Hill, 1914 ON 28 March 1914, a boiler of the second engine of the Quorn goods train that had departed from Port Augusta exploded with devastating effect. The explosion caused the train to derail. The fireman of the train was injured.

Callington, 1929 On 27 December 1929, sixteen passengers were injured when the second division of the Melbourne–Adelaide express derailed.

Manoora, 1942 On 26 September 1942, one passenger was hospitalised and four other passengers were treated at the scene when a Terowie to Adelaide passenger train derailed.

Strangeways, 1943 On 19 February 1943, a fireman was seriously injured after a head-on collision between a goods train and a troop train north of Quorn.

Coomandook, 1945 On 14 February 1945 a fireman and guard were slightly injured when a troop train collided head-on with a goods train.

Snowtown, 1945 On 7 April 1945, a guard and two fireman were injured when two freight trains collided head-on in the railway yards.

Monteith, 1975 On 10 March 1975, 32 people were injured in the derailment of "The Overland" express.

Crystal Brook, 1975 On 24 October 1975, an engine-driver was injured when a goods train was derailed due to a bridge being undermined and collapsing.

Port Augusta, 1987 On 17 April 1987, two men were injured when two crewless locomotives slipped their brakes, ran away and crashed head-on into parked diesels.

Redhill, 1989 On 11 July 1989, 65 people were injured when the Australian National operated Adelaide-bound Indian Pacific collided with a packed passenger train standing on the Redhill railway siding. Despite the heavy impact, neither train was derailed and the Indian Pacific continued to Adelaide after a safety check. A board of inquiry set-up after the collision blamed the driver of the Indian Pacific for failing to heed two warning signals before ploughing head-on into the Express Limited.

Kyancutta, 1992 On 14 December 1992, two people were injured when an Australian National grain train, powered by three diesel locos, collided with a fully laden semi-trailer, at a level crossing at Kyancutta. The truck immediately burst into flames, but the three engine drivers risked their lives and pulled the two injured people free. CFS staff cut the couplings to the front loco, which was on fire, and the drivers reversed the rest of the train from danger.

Mount Christie, 1997