2023 Odisha train collision — train collision in Balasore, Odisha, India, on 2 June 2023
The Balasore collision killed 296 people and injured over 1,200, making it one of the deadliest railway disasters in modern Indian history.
Key Facts
- Deaths
- 296
- Injured
- More than 1,200
- Coaches derailed
- 21 coaches of Coromandel Express
- Trains involved
- 3 (Coromandel Express, goods train, SMVT Bengaluru–Howrah Express)
- Trains affected (operations)
- More than 150
- Rail service resumed
- 5 June 2023
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
A change in electronic interlocking caused an erroneous signal that directed the Coromandel Express onto a passing loop line at full speed rather than the main line. Railway authorities also suspected sabotage. A similar signalling error had been reported in February 2023, and a December 2022 audit had flagged understaffing and funding shortfalls in railway safety departments.
On 2 June 2023, near Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore district, Odisha, the Coromandel Express struck a stationary goods train on the loop line. The impact derailed 21 coaches, three of which swung onto an adjacent track and struck the oncoming SMVT Bengaluru–Howrah Superfast Express, resulting in a three-train collision.
296 people were killed and more than 1,200 injured. NDRF and ODRAF led rescue operations with public assistance. Over 150 train services were disrupted and at least 48 cancelled; the line was restored by 5 June 2023. The CBI arrested three railway officials on 7 July 2023, and the crash intensified scrutiny of India's railway safety infrastructure and the delayed rollout of the Kavach protection system.