Train Accident Newsroom

Recent Train Accidents Involving Release Of Hazardous Material

FRA is concerned with all rail accidents that result in any release of a hazardous material, regardless of the quantity of material released.  Again, the vast majority of hazardous material shipments arrive at their destinations safely; few tank cars have leaks or spills of any kind; fewer still are breached in an accident or incident. 

Considering just chlorine, for example, since 1965 (the earliest data available) there have been at least 2.2 million tank car shipments of chlorine–only 788 of which were involved in accidents (0.036 percent of all the shipments).  Of those accidents, there were 11 instances of a catastrophic loss (i.e., a loss of all, or nearly all) of the chlorine lading (0.0005 percent of all the shipments).  Of the 11 catastrophic losses, four resulted in fatalities (0.00018 percent of all the shipments)–the most recent two of which (Macdona, Texas, and Graniteville, South Carolina) are discussed below.  

For all hazardous materials, in the 12 years from 1994 through 2005, hazardous materials released in railroad accidents resulted in a total of 14 fatalities.  In the same period, hazardous materials released in highway accidents resulted in a total of 116 fatalities.  While even one death is too many, these statistics show that train accidents involving a release of hazardous material that causes death are infrequent and rare. Read more at testimony.ost.dot.gov