Over 53% of railway accidents in India’s megacities happened in Delhi: NCRB

Delhi’s railway stations have become the backdrop for an unspoken tragedy. Each day, bodies—mangled, unrecognisable, often reduced to severed limbs and torn flesh—are retrieved from the tracks or found abandoned on platforms.

Some are victims of reckless crossings, others are homeless individuals succumbing to illness, and some are casualties of inexplicable violence—stuffed into duffel bags, their hands placed neatly beside them. The numbers are staggering.

A surge in railway fatalities

A total of 1,549 railway accidents were reported in 53 megacities during 2023, of which Delhi alone recorded 827—accounting for 53.4% of the total. These incidents were categorised as “Others”, indicating extraordinary or unclear circumstances behind the accidents.

Of the 827 incidents, 826 were classified under this “Others” category, while just one was recorded under “Fall from Train/Collision with People at Tracks”. The former led to 626 deaths and 200 injuries, while the latter caused a single fatality.

Unidentified corpses continue to pile up in mortuaries—unclaimed and unmourned. Railway police, overstretched and under-resourced, recover the dead with routine detachment. Yet, despite the horror, little is being done to address this silent crisis.

A year of rising deaths

Last year, Delhi Police observed a sharp rise in deaths at railway stations as bodies began to accumulate at an alarming rate, overwhelming police and mortuary staff. Between January 1, 2024 and January 1, 2025, 964 deaths were recorded at railway stations—marking a 14% increase from 829 fatalities in 2023-24.

However, the Zonal Integrated Police Network (ZIPNET) indicates a reduction in Unidentified Dead Bodies (UIDBs) at stations. Between January 1 and October 4, 2025, 412 UIDBs were found, compared with 887 during the same period in 2024.

Even so, the broader trend shows a grim picture. In 2022-23, 835 bodies were recovered, while 582 were recorded in 2021-22. In 2020-21, there was a brief decline of 15.8%, with 490 deaths reported.

Stampede and neglect

The stampede on February 15 at New Delhi Railway Station—triggered by a rush for the Mahakumbh—claimed 18 lives, forcing authorities to review security measures. Yet even before the incident, nine unidentified deaths had already been recorded at railway stations that month.

Many of the deceased die quietly within stations, succumbing to chronic ailments. Others are recovered from the tracks—mangled beyond recognition, their bodies bearing horrific injuries. With no identification on most, they remain unclaimed in mortuaries, straining both law enforcement and forensic teams.

Resource crunch and civic negligence

Security personnel cite logistical constraints and manpower shortages as major obstacles. Despite sporadic efforts, no significant policy reform has been introduced to curb rising fatalities. Many deaths stem from negligence—people crossing tracks instead of using footbridges, or falling from overcrowded trains.

Some fatalities occur during altercations inside moving trains, where victims are thrown off. Between January 1, 2024 and January 1, 2025, the number of UIDBs in Delhi rose by 12.8%, from 3,862 in 2023-24 to 4,432 in 2024-25. Around 21.7% of these were recovered from railway stations.

Where the numbers are highest

Data accessed by Patriot shows that seven police stations fall under the Railways department of Delhi Police: Subzi Mandi, Sarai Rohilla, Old Delhi, New Delhi, Anand Vihar, Delhi Cantonment, and Hazrat Nizamuddin.

Among them, Old Delhi Railway Station records the most fatalities, followed closely by New Delhi. Between January 1 and October 4, 2025, Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station reported 85 UIDBs, followed by 69 at Subzi Mandi, 59 at New Delhi, 56 at RMD Main (including Old Delhi), 43 at Sarai Rohilla, 41 at Anand Vihar, and 35 at Delhi Cantonment.

Between September 1, 2024 and January 1, 2025, Old Delhi Railway Station recorded 85 deaths. In this five-month span, 278 bodies were recovered, accounting for more than 30% of all fatalities under its jurisdiction, which includes Shahdara Railway Station.

A senior police official said, “If a passenger or person lacks any sense of civic responsibility, it’s not really our fault. We cannot keep enforcing rules if they ignore our warnings the first or second time. Most just keep doing it, sadly at the cost of their lives.”

Another official from the Government Railway Police (GRP) added that people often jump off moving trains. “The jump is often successful, causing minor injuries. But sometimes they misjudge the landing and end up being sliced in two on impact with a pole, or dying upon contact with the ground,” he said.

Chaos on the ground

During a visit to the station, Patriot observed ragpickers scavenging along the tracks minutes before a train’s arrival, while a man recklessly crossed the tracks to charge his phone—prioritising convenience over safety. Platform 1 lacked a charging point, and rather than using the designated path, the man risked his life.

A Railway Protection Force (RPF) official nearby made no visible effort to intervene. “None of them have any civic sense. We keep warning them, but nobody listens,” he said.

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Another senior police official revealed that most deaths occur at night, when the station becomes a refuge for drug addicts. “They know where to enter and settle inside. Intoxicated, they are not in their senses. We do not have personnel deployed at some of these points, so these deaths are rarely prevented. Moreover, when a moving train is involved, even a murder by pushing becomes hard to prove,” he said.

A senior official from Old Delhi Railway Station noted, “Most of the deaths recorded at this station are not actually from here. Many bodies are collected and recorded at the smaller halt stations between New Delhi and the destination.”

One officer for 10,000 passengers

An RPF official explained the manpower crisis. “On a normal day, Old Delhi station sees a footfall of three lakh passengers, but we have only about 30 personnel covering the entire premises. That means one officer for every 10,000 passengers—it’s impossible to maintain law and order,” he said.

Despite higher footfall—over five lakh passengers daily—New Delhi Railway Station records fewer fatalities, thanks to a higher deployment of personnel after the February stampede. But other stations remain understaffed.

With mortuaries overflowing and countless bodies unclaimed, the crisis shows no sign of abating.

A crisis of indifference

Beyond the statistics lies a deeper human tragedy. Each corpse tells a story of systemic neglect—of civic carelessness, bureaucratic inertia, and institutional fatigue. Without urgent intervention, Delhi’s railway stations risk becoming graveyards of the unidentified, where human lives end anonymously amid the din of arriving trains.

Meanwhile, the national capital also recorded the highest number of road accidents among megacities—5,715 during 2023—reinforcing a grim pattern of fatalities on both roads and rails.