The Bureau of Transportation Statistics records 54,539 train derailments between 1990 to 2021, an average of 1,704 per year.
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In 2022, there were more than 1,000 train derailments in the U.S. There were at least 1,164 train derailments across the country last year, according to data from the Federal Railroad Administration. That means the country is averaging roughly three derailments per day.
Track Defects are the Most Common CauseTrack defects emerged as the leading cause of train derailments. The significance of continuous infrastructure maintenance and inspections cannot be overstated.
The U.S. experiences an average of 1,704 train derailments per year, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. For comparison, the number of “fatal train collisions and derailments” in Europe in 2016 was 6.
Compared to other popular forms of travel, such as cars, ships, buses, and planes, trains are one of the safest forms of transportation in the United States.
HOW SAFE ARE TRAINS? Trains are statistically much safer than driving. In 2020, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics recorded 40,867 total deaths from travel, including in planes, in cars on highways and on trains.
The train derailed last Thursday along the Mississippi River near the villages of Ferryville and De Soto in Crawford County, sending two train cars into the river. BNSF Railway, the company that owns the railroad, reported that some of the train cars that crashed on land were carrying paint and lithium-ion batteries.
Unless a deal on pay, job security and working conditions is reached between unions and rail operators, it's likely that strikes could continue for the rest of 2023.
The Malbone Street Wreck (102 dead)All train crashes are tragic, but the Malbone Street Wreck is commonly considered the worst train crash in American history. On November 1, 1918, a packed Brighton Beach-bound train was speeding through a tunnel under Brooklyn's Malbone Street.
At about 8:55 PM ET on February 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, about a quarter-mile west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania state line.
Despite fewer miles being traveled, the rate of derailments has increased in five of the last seven years. The derailment rate among the seven Class I railroads is also higher than it was a decade ago.
One way to prevent train derailments is making sure train wheels and bearings (the component that keeps wheels turning smoothly) don't overheat. Railroads do this by installing sensors along their tracks that assess the strength and health of wheels and bearings passing over them.
A total of 63 main-track derailments (Table 4a & Table 4b) were reported in 2016, an 18% decrease from the 2015 total of 77 and a 28% decrease from the five-year average of 88 (Figure 6).