What is the most common train accident?

More than half of all railroad accidents occur at unprotected crossings. More than 80 percent of crossings lack adequate warning devices such as lights and gates. Occupants of vehicles that collide with a train are 40 times more likely to die than if they had collided with another vehicle of comparable size.



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Worst accidents The worst accident was the Quintinshill rail disaster in Scotland in 1915 with 226 dead and 246 injured. Second worst, and the worst in England, was the 1952 Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash, which killed 112 people and injured 340.

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Derailments rank as the most common type of accident involving major freight railroads, federal data shows. Equipment failures are increasingly responsible for derailments, and problems with equipment and train tracks accounted for nearly 60% of derailments nationwide last year.

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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.

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As of October, the FRA has recorded 742 incident reports for train derailments in 2023. Additionally, railroads reported 59 collisions, 12 fires, and 138 highway-rail-crossing incidents, which could include cars or any other vehicles or people at the crossing site.

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According to Gattie and the FRA, “a derailment happens when on-track equipment leaves the rail for a reason other than a collision, explosion, highway-rail grade crossing impact, etc.” Gattie also said that most derailments happen inside the rail yards and are caused by faulty tracks or basic human error.

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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.

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In a major train derailment, the train will often come off the tracks completely. Depending on where the derailment occurs, its momentum may cause it to collide into compartments ahead of the compartment that became derailed. If any passengers are onboard, this can result in serious injuries.

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There were eight non-workforce fatalities (passenger or public) in the year April 2022 to March 2023: three occurred in mainline stations and two at the platform-train interface; two passenger fatalities at stations on the London Underground; and one fatality from a collision between a member of the public and a tram.

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Train Accident Statistics Trains are estimated to kill 1 person every 100 minutes. Each year nearly 1,000 people are killed in train related accidents. More than half of all railroad accidents occur at unprotected crossings. More than 80 percent of crossings lack adequate warning devices such as lights and gates.

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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.

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THE AVERAGE FREIGHT TRAIN TRAVELING 55 MILES PER HOUR CAN TAKE A MILE OR MORE TO STOP — THE LENGTH OF 18 FOOTBALL FIELDS.

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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.

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Track Defects are the Most Common Cause Track defects emerged as the leading cause of train derailments. The significance of continuous infrastructure maintenance and inspections cannot be overstated.

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While fatalities from train derailments are rare, derailments themselves are actually quite common. From 1990, the first year the BTS began tracking derailments and injuries on a yearly basis, to 2022, there have been 55,741 accidents in which a train derailed. That's an average of 1,689 derailments per year.

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Extremity fractures and lower extremity amputations were frequently encountered. The mortality rate was 17%. The mortality rate was high in victims who were hit by the train (p = 0.00013).

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Recent Train Accidents
  • BROKEN RAIL CAUSED COLORADO TRAIN DERAILMENT – OCTOBER 23, 2023. ...
  • Amtrak Train Derailment in Moorpark, California – June 28, 2023. ...
  • Norfolk Southern Train Derailment in East Palestine, Ohio – February 3, 2023. ...
  • Amtrak Train Derailment Near Mendon, Missouri Kills Four, Injures 150 – June 27, 2022.


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Compare it to other major forms of transportation – with 0.04 deaths per 100 million miles traveled, train travel is much more dangerous than airplanes' 0.01 deaths per 100 million miles.

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