Runaway train
A runaway train is a type of railroad incident in which unattended rolling stock is accidentally allowed to roll onto the main line, a moving train loses enough braking power to be unable to stop in safety, or a train operates at unsafe speeds due to loss of operator control. If the uncontrolled rolling stock derails or hits another train, it will result in a train wreck.
A railway air brake can fail if valves on the pipe between each wagon are accidentally closed; the 1953 Pennsylvania Railroad train wreck and the 1988 Gare de Lyon train accident were results of a valve accidentally closed by the crew, reducing braking power.
A parked train or cut of cars may also run away if not properly tied down with a sufficient number of hand brakes.
Incidents
Accidents and incidents involving defective or improperly-set railway brakes include:| Date | Location | Cause | Details | References |
| February 27, 2019 | Ramses Station, Cairo, Egypt | Train driver left train to fight with another train driver | Unmanned train rolled into buffer, fuel tank burst and fuel exploded, killing 20 and injuring another 40 | Ramses Station rail disaster |
| 2018 | Port Hedland, Australia | Train driver left engine to inspect a wagon | An iron ore train consisting of 4 locomotives and 268 loaded wagons en route from Newman to Port Hedland travelled driverless at high speed, after the driver went out to inspect. The company deliberately derailed the train to avoid an uncontrolled incident. | |
| 2017 | Wadi, India | An electric locomotive traveled without a driver for after it was being swapped for a diesel locomotive to pull the train on a non-electrified section of track. Railway personnel chased after the locomotive by motorbike, and the train was stopped safely after 50 minutes | ||
| 2016 | Landen, Belgium | The driver left the cabin to do some check-ups on the train when it started moving. After 30 minutes and, the train was stopped by a driver who jumped into the train's cab. No one was injured nor did the train hit anything. | ||
| 2013 | Lac-Mégantic, Quebec | Combination of neglect, defective locomotive, poor maintenance, driver error, flawed operating procedures, weak regulatory oversight, lack of safety redundancy | Train driver did not set enough hand brakes to stop the crude oil train from rolling down the slope, train rolled down the slope and derailed in a curve. Several tank cars burst and caught fire, killing 47 people | Lac-Mégantic rail disaster |
| 2012 | Ion Luca Caragiale village, Romania | brakes improperly set | A freight train ran away from Lon Luca Caragiale Station because of the improper brakes setting and hit a Dacia car on a level crossing, killing 2 people | |
| 2010 | Pretoria, Johannesburg, South Africa | during a locomotive changeover, the carriages ran away out of control for 12 miles until they derailed at Pretoria | 7 injuries and 3 deaths were reported with total damage to the carriages of about R15,000,000. | - |
| 2007 | Congo-Kinshasa west of Kananga | 100 killed | ||
| June 20, 2003 | Los Angeles, CA, United States | a cut of 31 freight cars rolled away after they were improperly secured and left unattended in a yard east of Los Angeles, CA, United States. Initial reports claimed there were 10 freight cars. The consist later derailed in Commerce at an estimated speed of | 13 people suffered minor injuries. | |
| 2003 | 2003 Melbourne runaway train | an empty suburban train runs 17 kilometres unattended before colliding with another train at Spencer Street railway station | 11 people are injured. | - |
- Igandu train disaster, Tanzania – runaway backwards - 281 killed.
- Tenga rail disaster, Mozambique – runaway backwards - 192 killed.
- CSX 8888 incident, 66 miles, Walbridge – Kenton, Ohio, United States - freight train ran away under power without a crew after the engineer incorrectly set the locomotive's dynamic brake. The incident inspired the 2010 motion picture Unstoppable.
- Colorado Springs, Colorado 67 car Burlington Northern coal train runaway
- San Bernardino train disaster, California - brakes failed on freight train which crashed into houses
- New Brunswick, Canada March Canadian National ore train derailed. The engineer was in the second engine while the conductor was in the caboose back at the rail yard. There are recordings from dispatch available on YouTube.
- Chester General rail crash, UK - brakes failed on fuel train which collided with parked DMU.
- Jersey Central "ghost engine" incident, New Jersey - A single ALCO RS-3 locomotive of the Central Railroad of New Jersey left a terminal yard in Jersey City as a runaway and covered 22 miles in 36 minutes before it was stopped by a crewed locomotive on the tracks ahead. Incident suspected of being sabotage as throttle was open, air brakes set for running.
- Chapel-en-le-Frith, Great Britain – broken steam pipe made it impossible for crew to apply brakes.
- Federal Express train wreck, Union Station, Washington, DC, - valve closed by badly designed bufferplate.
- Torre del Bierzo rail disaster, Spain - brakes failed on an overloaded passenger train which collided with another in a tunnel; a third train was unaware and also crashed into it.
- Asheboro, North Carolina - an Aberdeen and Asheboro Railroad crew uncouples a locomotive from a freight train without setting the brakes on the cars properly; the cars soon roll downhill to collide with the locomotive, pinning the engine crew.
- Montparnasse derailment, Paris, France - Granville–Paris Express overran the buffer stop at its Gare Montparnasse terminus when its air brakes failed, crashed through the entire station, and fell onto the Place de Rennes killing one woman; five on the train and one in the street were injured.
- Armagh rail disaster, Northern Ireland – runaway backwards led to change in law.
- Shipton-on-Cherwell train crash, Oxford, UK - caused by fracture of a carriage wheel.