Texas is the king of hazardous train derailments, an ignominious title bestowed upon The Lone Star State due to an investigation of railroad mishaps.
Since 2002, Texas ranks first in the country for incidents that are considered serious and hazardous, characterized by severe economic impact and causing injuries or even death, an ABC investigation has found. In the more than two decades since then, 138 serious incidents have occurred in Texas, causing more than $134 million in damage, 34 major evacuations, with three people killed, according to data collected by ABC.
More recent data from the American Society of Civil Engineers examined by ABC shows that while train safety incidents and injuries in Texas decreased from 2018 to 2019, they resulted in more deaths in 2019, 13 fatalities to 16, respectively.
There have been two recent train derailment tragedies in Texas involving freight trains. In April, a train derailment in Chico caused by the collision of a Union Pacific freight train with an unoccupied train that was idle on the track resulted in the injuries of two rail employees, according to Fox News.
Earlier in February 2023, an 18-wheeler collided with a train, killing one person and derailing several cars in East Montgomery County, reported Spectrum News.
Statistics from the Federal Railroad Administration dating back to 2000 indicate that Texas does lead the nation in derailments, with 5,022, as the Lincoln Journal Star reported. The same analysis shows Illinois a distant second with 3,579 derailments and California third with 2,552, nearly half as many derailments as Texas.
There has been a renewed focus on railroad-related accidents due to the February disaster in East Palestine, Ohio, where a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed, contaminating the community with hazardous materials. Authorities purposefully set fire to chemicals being transported in derailed cars to prevent an explosion. This action in itself precipitated the evacuation of half of East Palestine.
By late April, the train’s owner, Norfolk Southern, told investors that the derailment and subsequent cleanup efforts had already cost the company $387 million, as reported by The Dallas Express.
The Federal Railroad Administration says about 1,000 train derailments happen each year, but very few result in hazardous chemical leaks, according to The Washington Post. In 2022, 10 train accidents in which hazardous materials were released took place.
The Association of American Railroads (AAR), the leading trade group representing the major freight railroads of North America, said analysis of data provided by the Federal Railroad Administration shows that derailments are down 31% since 2000. However, they acknowledge that there has been a 5% increase from 2022 to 2023.
In March, the AAR released a set of “Key Safety Measures” to be implemented by its members to help avoid another East Palestine-type accident.