The Guadalajara train disaster occurred around January 22, 1915, in Mexico and killed over 600 people.

The Mexican Revolution was in full swing by 1915. After the assassination of Francisco Madero two years earlier, the presidency of the country was assumed by Victoriano Huerta, but revolutionary forces led by Venustiano Carranza and Pancho Villa overthrew him and Carranza became president in 1914. Villa however wanted to continue the revolution and an armed struggle ensued. On January 18, 1915 Carranza's troops captured Guadalajara in southwestern Mexico. He immediately ordered that the families of his troops be transported by train from Colima on the Pacific coast to his newly captured stronghold.

Around January 22, 1915, a special train of twenty cars left Colima. It was packed, with people even clinging to the roofs and undercarriages. Somewhere between Colima and Guadalajara the engineer lost control on a long steep descent. As the train gathered speed many people were thrown off as the train negotiated curves. Eventually the entire train plunged off the tracks and into a deep canyon, with fewer than 300 of the 900 on board surviving the disaster. Some of Carranza's troops, Yaqui Indians committed suicide when hearing of the death of their families. Others swore vengeance on the train crew, but they had also been killed in the disaster.

The tragedy remains the deadliest railway accident in North American history.

Guadalajara ( GWAH-də-lə-HAR-ə, Spanish: [ɡwaðalaˈxaɾa] (listen)) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629, while the Guadalajara metropolitan area has a population of 5,268,642, making it the third-largest metropolitan area in the country. Guadalajara has the second-highest population density in Mexico, with over 10,361 people per square kilometer. Guadalajara is an international center of business, finance, arts, and culture, as well as the economic center of the Bajío region, one of the most productive and developed regions in Latin America.Guadalajara is the twentieth largest metropolitan area in Latin America and a major Latin American tech hub and financial center. It usually ranks among the 100 most productive and globally competitive cities in the world. Within Mexico, the city is an important center for science, technology, finance, culture, innovation, education, business, and tourism. It is home to numerous landmarks, including Guadalajara Cathedral, the Teatro Degollado, the Templo Expiatorio, the Hospicio Cabañas, and the San Juan de Dios Market—the largest indoor market in Latin America.Guadalajara was founded on 14 February 1542 by Cristóbal de Oñate, a Basque conquistador, as the capital of the Kingdom of Nueva Galicia, part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain. After 1572, the Royal Audiencia of Guadalajara, previously subordinate to Mexico City, became the only authority in New Spain with autonomy over Nueva Galicia, owing to rapidly growing wealth in the kingdom following the discovery of silver. By the 18th century, Guadalajara had taken its place as Mexico's second largest city, following mass colonial migrations in the 1720s and 1760s. During the Mexican War of Independence, independence leader Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla established Mexico's first revolutionary government in Guadalajara in 1810. The city flourished during the Porfiriato, with the advent of the industrial revolution, but its growth was hampered significantly during the Mexican Revolution. In 1929, the Cristero War ended within the confines of the city, when President Plutarco Elías Calles proclaimed the Grito de Guadalajara. The city saw continuous growth throughout the rest of the 20th century, attaining a metro population of 1 million in the 1960s and surpassing 3 million in the 1990s.

Guadalajara is a gamma global city, and one of Mexico's most important cultural centers. It is home to numerous mainstays of Mexican culture, including Mariachi, Tequila, and Birria and hosts numerous notable events, including the Guadalajara International Film Festival, the most important film festival in Latin America, and the Guadalajara International Book Fair, the largest book fair in the Americas. The city was the American Capital of Culture in 2005 and has hosted numerous global events, including the 1970 FIFA World Cup, the 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 1st Ibero-American Summit in 1991, and the 2011 Pan American Games. The city is home to numerous universities and research institutions, including the University of Guadalajara and the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara, two of the highest-ranked universities in Mexico.