A diesel locomotive derailed near Semrino in Gatjina, writes governor Aleksander Drozdenko on Telegram.
"The train driver was killed. He got stuck in the driver's cab and died later in the ambulance," he writes.
In parallel, a freight train with 15 empty cars derailed further south. No personal injuries are reported from there, but investigators are investigating whether sabotage can be behind it, according to the governor.
Train traffic is reported to have major disruptions.
Just hours earlier, on Saturday, three people died when an explosive charge exploded on a railway track in the neighboring region of Orjol.
Orjol borders Kursk, which in turn borders Ukraine, where Russia's war of aggression has been going on for over three years. Russia's railway has recently been exposed to explosions, fires and derailments, something Russian authorities to some extent claim is due to Ukrainian sabotage.
