The Trinamul Congress on Tuesday criticised the series of train accidents across the country, labeling them as the "new normal" under the BJP government at the Centre, and accused the railway ministry of zero accountability.

Two persons were killed and 20 others injured as at least 18 coaches of the Howrah-Mumbai Mail derailed in Jharkhand's Seraikela-Kharsawan district early on Tuesday, officials said.

The accident occurred at 3.45 AM near Barabamboo, around 80 km from Jamshedpur, under the Chakradharpur Division of the South Eastern Railway (SER), they said.

"This is becoming the new normal. Accountability of @AshwiniVaishnaw ji is zero. The GOI has no answers whatsoever," senior TMC leader and MP Sushmita Dev posted on X.

Echoing her, party colleague and MP Sagarika Ghose wondered how many more train accidents shall it take for the Centre to wake up from its slumber.

In a post on X, she said Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is only a "part-time rail minister" and is busy with election management for the BJP in poll-bound states.

In a dig at the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Ghose said, "How many more train accidents will it take for the National Disaster Alliance government to wake up?" "Where is the Rail Minister? Ashwini Vaishnaw is only a part-time rail minister, busy handling BJP's election management in assembly poll-bound states, while safety of passengers is being shockingly compromised every day," she said.

"Modi only wants to flag off trains in photo ops while citizens suffer daily because of neglect of basic safety on trains. Shameful lack of basic accountability on the part of Modi government," the TMC leader said.