Fact Check: Old train derailment video is falsely tagged as a recent incident from Bhiwani

Indian Railways, often regarded as the lifeline for millions of passengers, is facing a concerning reality as recent train accidents highlight serious safety issues. The derailments of the Chandigarh-Dibrugarh Express, Kanchanjunga Express, and the July 30 accident involving the Mumbai-Howrah train near Barabamboo in Jharkhand, underscore a troubling pattern. This marks the third deadly crash in just one month, raising serious concerns about railway safety in the country. The horrific Odisha Bahanaga accident, which claimed 291 lives, remains fresh in our memories.

In this backdrop, a widely shared photograph & video on social media has captured the attention of many users. The image shows a double-engine Indian Railways train derailed and stranded in farmland.

Social media users sharing this picture & video with a caption “Unbelievable Does the Railway Ministry want to make some kind of a Record in Derailment?? Now the Train Derailed in Bhiwani and Entered a field. 8 Trains were canceled on the Jaipur route."

ट्रेन से खेत जोतने वाला पहला देश बना भारत. धन्यवाद @AshwiniVaishnaw जी. #TrainAccident

In English it means “India became the first country to plough fields using trains”.

Not only social media users, News9 Live, a news provider organization having 13.2 lakh subscribers on their YouTube Channel, also uploaded the same viral image on their YouTube channel with the title "Train Accident: Bhiwani Train accident | Goods Train Derailment" on August 8, 2024.

Fact Check: We found the claim is misleading. This train accident is neither recent nor did it occur in Bhiwani.

During a reverse image search, we found that an X account named ‘Rail Tales – Tamil’ shared the same viral photograph on September 4, 2022.

It proves that the viral image has been on the internet since at least 2022.

We also found that a journalist Rajendra B. Aklekar shared the same viral video on September 4, 2022 with the caption, “Into the fields. One of India's most powerful locomotives, WAG-9 class, near Solapur, earlier today.”

When we search the Keyword “Goods Engine Derail in Solapur Section”, We found on 4th September 2022, Patrika published a detail article on it with the title “सोलापुर में पटरी से उतरी मालगाड़ी, ट्रैक छोड़कर खेत में जा घुसा इंजन, कोई हताहत नहीं” I

When translated to English, it reads: "A goods train derailed in Solapur; the engine left the track and entered a field, with no reported injuries."

According to the article “A goods train traveling from Solapur to Pune derailed in Karmala Taluka village of Solapur District. Railway Officials stated that the accident occurred around 3:40 a.m. No casualties have been reported so far. According to the information received, two engines along with coaches of the goods train, which was carrying cement derailed. After the incident, the train's engine entered a farm field. Fortunately, there was no loss of life in this incident. However, trains traveling from Mumbai to Karnataka were delayed as a result. The railway's emergency team arrived at the scene shortly after the incident was reported. Currently, work is being carried out to repair the track and to place the engine and coaches back on the track. The derailment has affected the schedule of some trains. The derailed goods train was on a loop track, so train traffic on the route was not halted for long, and movement resumed shortly after the accident. Railway officials also reported that rail traffic on this route was restored at 6:40 am on the same morning. The cause of the goods train's derailment is not yet clear”.

On September 4, 2022, ABP Majha, uploaded a video on their YouTube channel with the title “Freight Train Accident in Solapur”

During the search, we found on August 8, 2024, DRM Solapur informed on their social media: “आज सोलापूर मण्डल पर ऐसी कोई घटना नहीं घटित हुई है। यह २०२२ की घटना है। कृपया ऐसी भ्रामक पोस्ट ना डाले। इनसे भारतीय रेल्वे के १२ लाख कर्मियों का हौसला कम ना करे”।

When we translate it to English, it reads: “No such incident has happened in the Solapur division today. This is an incident from 2022. Please do not post such misleading information. Do not demoralize the 12 lakh employees of Indian Railways by doing so”.

We found the claim is misleading. The train accident occurred in 2022 in Solapur, Maharashtra, not in Bhiwani, Haryana.