April 25, 2005: 107 people are killed and 540 injured when a speeding commuter train jumps the tracks at Amagasaki, western Japan, and smashes into an apartment building during morning rush hour.

Dec 26, 2004: A tsunami sweeps away a commuter train carrying up to 1,500 passengers in Telwatte, south of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo. At least 900 bodies are buried in a mass grave and a further 57 bodies found later.

April 22, 2004: A train blast in North Korea kills more than 150 people and leaves 1,300 injured in Ryongchon near the border with China.

Feb 18, 2004: More than 300 people are killed in Iran when train wagons carrying a cargo of chemicals derail and explode.

Sep 9, 2002: At least 119 people are killed in the northeastern Indian state of Bihar when part of the Rajdhani Express from Kolkata to New Delhi derails on a bridge over the Dhava river near Aurangabad.

June 24, 2002: Nearly 300 people die when a passenger train carrying more than 1,200 crashes into a freight train near the Tanzanian capital, Dodoma.

May 25, 2002: More than 190 people are killed when train a train derails in southern Mozambique, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) from the capital Maputo.

Feb 20, 2002: A passenger train catches fire between Cairo and Luxor in Egypt, killing more than 350 people.

Aug 2, 1999: More than 250 are killed in a head-on collision at Gaisal station, in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Nov 26, 1998: A speeding train rams into a derailed express in India's northern state of Punjab, leaving 210 people dead.

Feb 14, 1998: At least 220 people are killed in the explosion of two petrol wagons after a train derails in the suburbs of the Cameroon capital, Yaounde.

Aug 20, 1995: More than 300 people are killed after two express trains collide in the city of Firozabad near Agra, in India's Uttar Pradesh state.

Sept 22, 1994: A train derails in the southern Angolan province of Huila leaving 300 dead and 147 injured.

Jan 4, 1990: A collision near the Pakistani station of Sangi between a passenger train and goods train leaves more than 350 dead and 700 injured.

June 4, 1989: A gas explosion and a fire as two trains cross in Asha-Ufa station, 1,200 kilometres (745 miles) east of Moscow, leaves 645 dead, including 181 children.

July 2, 1987: 150 are killed when a train derails at a road crossing in Zaire, near the frontier with Zambia.

Jan 13, 1985: A train derails about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, claiming 392 lives.

June 6, 1981: Around 800 people are killed when a cyclone blows a train into river in Bihar, eastern India.

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