Despite the reduction in railway accidents during the first quarter of 2026 (1Q26), the sector continues to face challenges, as more than seven thousand reports related to railway equipment were registered in Mexico between 2020 and 2025 .
According to data from the Agency for Trains and Integrated Public Transport (ATTRAPI) , 2024 was the year with the highest number of reports: 1,567 compared to 788 in 2020.
However, in the period from January to March of this year, which is the latest data published, 248 reports were received compared to 316 year-on-year, representing a decrease of 21.5 percent .
Of the total number of incidents recorded in Q1 2026, 68.5%, corresponding to 170 reports, were at level crossings; while 11.6%, or 29, were in railway equipment, infrastructure and operation; and 19.7%, 49 reports, were incidents related to death, injury and others.
Vehicle collisions remain the most frequent type of accident , with a total of 167 reports in the first quarter; a decrease of 11.1% in the number of accidents was observed.
According to ATTRAPI, the states with the highest number of reports of vehicle collisions were Nuevo León with 30 , or 17.9% of the total, as well as the State of Mexico with 19 reports, which corresponded to 11.3%, and Jalisco with 16 cases, 9.5% of the total incidents that occurred in the aforementioned period.
“The accidents recorded during the period were mainly associated with violations of traffic regulations at railway crossings by vehicle drivers. This resulted in 27 people injured and two deaths,” the agency stated.
It is worth remembering that in 2026 there have been railway accidents such as the derailment of a Ferromex freight train in San Francisco de los Romo , Aguascalientes; the chemical spill after the accident of a unit of this same railway in Sonora; up to the second incident of the Interoceanic Train.
In addition to the most recent incidents involving a gas tanker and a train in Tamaulipas , there was also the one that occurred early Saturday morning, October 3, when a Ferromex freight train traveling from Manzanillo-Colima to Tlaquepaque derailed, leaving two members of the National Guard dead and three more injured, according to state media reports.
Recently, the Mexican Association of Railways (AMF) indicated that safe coexistence between the railway, vehicles and people represents one of the main road safety challenges in the communities through which Mexican railways pass.
“In a context marked by the push for new railway projects in the country and the growing strategic relevance of the sector for national mobility and logistics, it is essential to strengthen prevention actions at level crossings and promote a safe coexistence between the railway infrastructure and the communities through which it passes,” he said.
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