Jnaneswari Express Derailment (2010)
In West Bengal, India, the Jnaneswari Express train derailment and subsequent collision kills 148 passengers.
Background
The Jnaneswari Express (train number 2102) ran between Kolkata (Howrah) and Mumbai (Lokmanya Tilak Terminus), a route covering over 2,000 kilometers. In 2010, West Bengal was experiencing intense Maoist (Naxalite) insurgency, targeting police, government infrastructure, and transportation networks in rural areas. Naxalite groups had conducted prior attacks on railway tracks in the region, and Indian Railways had been warned of potential sabotage in Naxal-affected areas.
Did You Know?
The Jnaneswari Express disaster prompted India to introduce emergency response protocols for railway disasters, including dedicated disaster management teams along all major rail corridors and track intrusion detection systems in Naxal-affected areas to detect tampering before trains reached sabotaged sections.
The Derailment
In the early morning hours of May 28, 2010, Naxalite saboteurs removed a section of railway track on the Kharagpur–Mumbai main line near Jhargram, West Bengal. When the Jnaneswari Express passed over the gap at approximately 1:30 a.m., several coaches derailed. Minutes later, a freight train heading in the opposite direction struck the derailed coaches lying across the adjacent track. At least 148 people were killed and over 200 injured, making it one of the deadliest rail disasters in India's recent history.
Aftermath & Legacy
The attack was claimed by the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called it an “inhuman act.” The government of West Bengal faced criticism for intelligence failures. The disaster highlighted the vulnerability of India's vast railway network — carrying over 20 million passengers daily — to targeted sabotage, and accelerated investment in railway security across Maoist-affected states.