The fire in the three coaches of the Fronier Mail in the early hours of Thursday in Punjab's Ludhiana district, in which at least 38  killed and over 13 injured, was the second major train tragedy this year.

Following is a chronology of the major rail accidents in the country between 2003 and 1990.

• January 3, 2003: Eighteen killed and over 41 injured when the Kachiguda-Manmad Express rams into a stationary goods train at Ghatnandur railway station in Maharashtra's Beed district. 
• September 10, 2002: 130 killed and 154 injured when the 15 bogies of the 2301 Up Howrah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express derails on a bridge near Rafiganj station between Gaya and Dehri-on-Sone in the Mughalsarai division of the Eastern Railway.
• November 20, 2001: Three killed and 10 injured when an engine hits the Mohkameh-Howrah passenger at Dumri between Mohkameh and Bariah stations of the Eastern Railway.
• June 22, 2001: Forty-three killed and more than 230 injured when eight bogies of the Madras-bound Mangalore-Madras Mail derails over a bridge. Four bogies plunge into the swollen River Kadalundi between Parappanangadi and Calicut.
• December 2, 2000: Forty killed and over 142 were injured when the Amritsar-bound Howrah Mail rams a derailed goods train near Sarai Banjara, 40km from Ambala.    
• July 1, 2000: Two engine drivers of the Howrah-Amritsar Express were killed as it rams into an empty rake of the Ambala City-Saharanpur passenger between Ambala Cantonment and Ambala City railway stations.
• June 6, 2000: The driver of the Mathura-Kasganj Passenger died on the spot and nearly 24 injured when the train derails near Kasganj in Etah district of Central Uttar Pradesh.
• August 2, 1999: 500 killed and over 1,000 injured when the Delhi-bound Bramhaputra Mail and the Guwahati-bound Awadh-Assam Express coiled head-on at Gaisal in West Bengal. Fifteen bogies of the two trains were smashed in the accident.
• June 4, 1999: Twelve killed and 60 injured when 14 bogies of the Secunderabad-bound Godavari Express derails near Kazipet in Andhra Pradesh.
• November 26, 1998: 150 killed and 250 injured when the Calcutta-bound Jammu-Tawi-Sealdah Express rams into the derailed coaches of the Amritsar bound Frontier Mail.
• April 24, 1998: Twenty-four killed and 32 injured at Parali Vaijanath railway station in Maharashtra as a goods train rams into the Manmad-Kachiguda Express.
• April 4, 1998: Eleven killed near Fatuha station on Howrah-Delhi main line as Howrah-Danapur Express derails between Fatuha and Bankaghat stations.
• September 14, 1997: Eighty-one killed as five bogies of the Ahmedabad-Howrah Express plunge into a river in Bilaspur district of Madhya Pradesh.
• July 28, 1997: Twelve killed in a collision involving Karnataka Express and Himsagar Express near Faridabad on the outskirts of Delhi.
• July 8, 1997: Thirty-three killed in a bomb blast on a passenger train at Lehra Khanna railway station in Bhatinda district in Punjab.
• December 30, 1996: thirty-three killed in a bomb blast on the Brahmaputra Mail between Kokrajahar and Fakiragram stations in lower Assam.
• May 25, 1996: Twenty-five were killed as an Allahabad-bound passenger train rams into a tractor-trolley at an unmanned level crossing near Varanasi.
• May 14, 1996: thirty-five people from a marriage party were killed when a bus carrying them collided with the Ernakulam-Kayamkulam train at an unmanned level-crossing near Alappuzha in Kerala.
• April 18, 1996: Sixty killed as the Gorakhpur-Gonda passenger train rammed into a stationary goods train at Donengarh near Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh.
• 2 Aug 20, 1995: 302 killed as the Delhi-bound Purushottam Express rammed into a stationary Kalindi Express near Firozabad in Uttar Pradesh.
• May 14, 1995: 52 killed as the Madras-Kanyakumari Express collides with a goods train near Salem.
• May 3, 1994: 35 killed as the Narayanadri Express rams into a tractor in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh.
• September 21, 1993: 71 killed as the Kota-Bina passenger train collides with a goods train near Chhabra in Rajasthan.
• July 16, 1993: 60 killed in an accident in Darbhanga district of Bihar.
• September 5, 1992: 41 killed in a train accident near Raigarh in Madhya Pradesh.
• October 31, 1991: 30 killed as the Karnataka Express derails near Makaligurga in Karnataka.
• October 10, 1990: 40 killed in a fire in a passenger train near Cherpalli in Andhra Pradesh.
• June 25, 1990: 60 killed as a goods train rams into a passenger train at Mangra in Daltongunj in Bihar.
• June 6, 1990: 36 killed in a train accident at Gollaguda in Andhra Pradesh.
• April 16, 1990: 70 burnt to death as a shuttle train catches fire near Patna.