According to the Federal Railroad Administration, train accidents occur in most states in the country. From 2018 to 2021, train accidents were tracked in 43 states. The only states without data were Nevada, Alaska, Hawaii, Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Maine.
Accidents By State
In the 2018 to 2021 time period, Georgia had the most train accidents. There were 277 accidents in the state. Texas had the second most at 262. Because both states are major centers of train transportation, it makes sense that there would be many accidents in these states. Texas is also the largest state in the continental U.S. which explains why there would be a larger number of accidents.
Alabama, California, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and Washington all had between 100 and 255 train accidents during the same time period.
Of the states that have data, six had less than ten accidents from 2018 to 2021. Arkansas (9), Massachusetts (8), Idaho (6), Delaware (5), Connecticut (2), and Utah (2) were the states with the fewest train accidents.
Train Accident Injuries and Deaths
While the number of train accidents has been decreasing since the early 2000s, the number of injuries and deaths has stayed relatively constant. It is important to remember that injuries and deaths reported only take into account those affiliated with the train itself, not including those citizens who were impacted by the train crash.
In many train accidents, injuries occur. While damage to property, goods, or the trains themselves is not good, people are obviously more concerned about the effect on human lives. Luckily, most train accidents do not cause large numbers of injuries. Thirty-seven states reported less than 10 total injuries during the 2018-2021 data collection. Ten of these states—Montana, North Dakota, Michigan, South Dakota, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Oregon, Delaware, Connecticut, and Utah—had no injuries.
On the other hand, some states had relatively high numbers of injuries resulting from train accidents. Georgia had the most injuries at 33. This makes sense, As Georgia also was the state with the most overall accidents. South Carolina (15), Texas (13), New Mexico (12), Pennsylvania (10), and Indiana (10) were the other states with double-digit injuries during the 2018-2021 period.
Luckily, deaths from train accidents are not common. Georgia, again, tops the list with nine deaths during the period of data collection. Twenty-one states had one to four deaths, and twenty-two had no deaths.