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Derailment
In rail transport, a derailment is a type of railway accident that occurs when a moving rail vehicle such as a train comes off its rails. Although many derailments are minor, all result in temporary disruption of the proper operation of the railway system and they are a potentially serious hazard.
A derailment of a train can be caused by a collision with another object, operator error (such as excessive speed through a curve), mechanical failure of tracks (such as broken rails) or wheels, among other causes. In emergency situations, deliberate derailment with derails or catch points is sometimes used to prevent a more serious accident.
The first recorded train derailment in history is known as the Hightstown rail accident in New Jersey that occurred on 8 November 1833. The train was traveling between Hightstown and Spotswood, New Jersey, and derailed after an axle broke on one of the carriages as a result of a journal box catching fire. The derailment resulted in one fatality and twenty-three injuries, and it was recorded that both New York railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt and former U.S president John Quincy Adams were on the train as it took place, in which Adams wrote about the event in his journal.
During the 19th century derailments were commonplace, but progressively improved safety measures have resulted in a stable lower level of such incidents. A sampling of annual approximate numbers of derailments in the United States includes 3000 in 1980, 1000 in 1986, 500 in 2010, and 1000 in 2022. Although considerably less common than they were a century or even half a century ago, major incidents do still occur from time to time. Besides operator error, system failure due to aging infrastructure, often combined with constant or even increasing demand, has played a growing role in accidents, especially along the busiest corridors. In the past two decades, notable recent derailments include:
A line chart plotting derailments per year, for both freight and passenger railroad operations in the United States since 1975.
Derailments result from one or more of a number of distinct causes; these may be classified as:
Broken rails are a leading cause of derailments. According to data from the Federal Railroad Administration, broken rails and welds are the most common reason for train derailments, making up more than 15 percent of derailment cases.
A traditional track structure consists of two rails, fixed at a designated distance apart (known as the track gauge), and supported on transverse sleepers (ties). Some advanced track structures support the rails on a concrete or asphalt slab. The running surface of the rails is required to be practically continuous and of the proper geometrical layout.
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Derailment
In rail transport, a derailment is a type of railway accident that occurs when a moving rail vehicle such as a train comes off its rails. Although many derailments are minor, all result in temporary disruption of the proper operation of the railway system and they are a potentially serious hazard.
A derailment of a train can be caused by a collision with another object, operator error (such as excessive speed through a curve), mechanical failure of tracks (such as broken rails) or wheels, among other causes. In emergency situations, deliberate derailment with derails or catch points is sometimes used to prevent a more serious accident.
The first recorded train derailment in history is known as the Hightstown rail accident in New Jersey that occurred on 8 November 1833. The train was traveling between Hightstown and Spotswood, New Jersey, and derailed after an axle broke on one of the carriages as a result of a journal box catching fire. The derailment resulted in one fatality and twenty-three injuries, and it was recorded that both New York railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt and former U.S president John Quincy Adams were on the train as it took place, in which Adams wrote about the event in his journal.
During the 19th century derailments were commonplace, but progressively improved safety measures have resulted in a stable lower level of such incidents. A sampling of annual approximate numbers of derailments in the United States includes 3000 in 1980, 1000 in 1986, 500 in 2010, and 1000 in 2022. Although considerably less common than they were a century or even half a century ago, major incidents do still occur from time to time. Besides operator error, system failure due to aging infrastructure, often combined with constant or even increasing demand, has played a growing role in accidents, especially along the busiest corridors. In the past two decades, notable recent derailments include:
A line chart plotting derailments per year, for both freight and passenger railroad operations in the United States since 1975.
Derailments result from one or more of a number of distinct causes; these may be classified as:
Broken rails are a leading cause of derailments. According to data from the Federal Railroad Administration, broken rails and welds are the most common reason for train derailments, making up more than 15 percent of derailment cases.
A traditional track structure consists of two rails, fixed at a designated distance apart (known as the track gauge), and supported on transverse sleepers (ties). Some advanced track structures support the rails on a concrete or asphalt slab. The running surface of the rails is required to be practically continuous and of the proper geometrical layout.