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If you or a loved one have been injured in a train derailment accident you may be entitled to monetary compensation. Complete the free consultation form below and a lawyer may contact you regarding your claim.
ACCIDENTS IN DESCENDING FREQUENCY BY CAUSE (BY CALENDAR YEAR, Jan-Dec)

  Total Total Year Counts YTD Counts Jan - Nov % Change Over Time
Accs Pct of Total 2003 2004 2005 2005 2006 2003 to 2005 2004 to 2005 To Nov 2005 2006
-----GRAND TOTAL....... 8,752 100.0 2,127 2,427 2,283 2,104 1,915 7.3 -5.9 -9.0
T110 Wide gage(defective/missing crossties) 798 9.1 211 236 188 172 163 -10.9 -20.3 -5.2
H702 Switch improperly lined 574 6.6 166 162 152 132 94 -8.4 -6.2 -28.8
T220 Transverse/compound fissure 327 3.7 97 74 88 79 68 -9.3 18.9 -13.9
T314 Switch point worn or broken 324 3.7 75 94 85 80 70 13.3 -9.6 -12.5
M405 Harmonic rock off, etc. 317 3.6 68 88 91 87 70 33.8 3.4 -19.5
H306 Shoving movement, absence of man 245 2.8 66 71 57 54 51 -13.6 -19.7 -5.6
T207 Detail fracture - shelling/head check 200 2.3 40 47 60 53 53 50.0 27.7 .
H704 Switch previously run through 193 2.2 44 63 47 44 39 6.8 -25.4 -11.4
H503 Buff/slack action excess, trn handling 174 2.0 68 56 28 24 22 -58.8 -50.0 -8.3
T221 Vertical split head 163 1.9 38 40 40 35 45 5.3 . 28.6
T202 Broken base of rail 140 1.6 32 43 29 24 36 -9.4 -32.6 50.0
T101 Cross level of track irregular(joints) 131 1.5 29 29 42 40 31 44.8 44.8 -22.5
T210 Head and web sep(outside jt bar limit) 131 1.5 27 40 38 33 26 40.7 -5.0 -21.2
T311 Switch damaged or out of adjustment 129 1.5 36 31 33 32 29 -8.3 6.5 -9.4
E53C Journal (roller bearing) overheating 128 1.5 24 42 37 34 25 54.2 -11.9 -26.5
T102 Cross level track irreg.(not at joints) 128 1.5 22 33 43 40 30 95.5 30.3 -25.0
T109 Track alignment irreg(buckled/sunkink) 122 1.4 25 24 25 25 48 . 4.2 92.0
H312 Passed couplers 114 1.3 28 32 35 32 19 25.0 9.4 -40.6
T111 Wide gage(spikes/other rail fasteners) 112 1.3 29 22 36 31 25 24.1 63.6 -19.4
H303 Derail, failure to apply or remove 108 1.2 26 35 28 27 19 7.7 -20.0 -29.6
T319 Switch pt gap(btwn swt pt & stock rail) 107 1.2 17 38 26 25 26 52.9 -31.6 4.0
M503 Vandalism of track or track appliances 92 1.1 24 24 19 17 25 -20.8 -20.8 47.1
T001 Roadbed settled or soft 90 1.0 26 27 23 21 14 -11.5 -14.8 -33.3
H703 Switch not latched or locked 85 1.0 16 25 23 21 21 43.8 -8.0 .
M101 Snow,ice,mud,gravel,coal,etc. on trk 83 0.9 20 24 23 20 16 15.0 -4.2 -20.0
H307 Shoving movement, failure to control 75 0.9 15 9 18 15 33 20.0 100.0 120.0
M204 Improperly loaded car 74 0.8 17 18 21 21 18 23.5 16.7 -14.3
M411 Passed couplers (automated classificatio 74 0.8 3 26 29 29 16 866.7 11.5 -44.8
M599 Other miscellaneous causes 69 0.8 16 20 17 17 16 6.3 -15.0 -5.9
T205 Defective or missing crossties 68 0.8 10 14 25 24 19 150.0 78.6 -20.8
E46C Truck bolster stiff 66 0.8 18 22 12 12 14 -33.3 -45.5 16.7
T108 Trk alignmnt irreg-not buckled/sunkink 62 0.7 17 11 23 23 11 35.3 109.1 -52.2
E40C Side bearing clearance insufficient 61 0.7 9 19 16 16 17 77.8 -15.8 6.3
E61C Broken rim 61 0.7 16 12 18 14 15 12.5 50.0 7.1
T299 Other rail and joint bar defects 61 0.7 15 14 15 12 17 . 7.1 41.7
T399 Oth frog, switch, trk appliance defect 54 0.6 12 9 10 10 23 -16.7 11.1 130.0
H525 Independent brake, improper use 53 0.6 15 16 9 9 13 -40.0 -43.8 44.4
T199 Other track geometry defects 51 0.6 16 12 16 15 7 . 33.3 -53.3
T201 Bolt hole crack or break 50 0.6 12 10 17 14 11 41.7 70.0 -21.4
H504 Buff/slack action excess, trn make-up 46 0.5 11 16 13 13 6 18.2 -18.8 -53.8
E67C Damaged flange or tread (build up) 45 0.5 9 14 10 8 12 11.1 -28.6 50.0
E33C Coupler retainer pin/cross key missing 43 0.5 13 8 14 13 8 7.7 75.0 -38.5
H601 Coupling speed excessive 43 0.5 13 10 15 15 5 15.4 50.0 -66.7
M504 Fail by non-rr empto control spd of car 43 0.5 3 13 14 10 13 366.7 7.7 30.0
H018 Fail to secure car hnd brk -rr emp 42 0.5 12 10 8 8 12 -33.3 -20.0 50.0
M105 Extreme wind velocity 41 0.5 8 11 11 11 11 37.5 . .
M404 Obj/equip on/fouling track, other 41 0.5 14 10 8 6 9 -42.9 -20.0 50.0
T113 Wide gage (due to worn rails) 41 0.5 11 13 10 9 7 -9.1 -23.1 -22.2
E07C Rigging down or dragging 40 0.5 11 6 11 11 12 . 83.3 9.1
E64C Worn Flange 40 0.5 9 14 9 9 8 . -35.7 -11.1
H607 Failure to comply with restricted speed 40 0.5 2 8 8 7 22 300.0 . 214.3
E51C Broken/bent axle between wheel seats 38 0.4 12 14 3 3 9 -75.0 -78.6 200.0
H020 Fail to apply suff. hand brakes -rr emp 38 0.4 14 13 7 7 4 -50.0 -46.2 -42.9
M201 Load shifted 37 0.4 9 7 12 12 9 33.3 71.4 -25.0
M507 Investigation complete, cause could not 36 0.4 5 20 6 6 5 20.0 -70.0 -16.7
S007 Class yd auto ctrl sys retarder fail 35 0.4 7 11 11 10 6 57.1 . -40.0
H505 Lat DB force on curve xcess trn hndlng 34 0.4 9 10 10 10 5 11.1 . -50.0
H524 Excessive horsepower 33 0.4 9 10 5 5 9 -44.4 -50.0 80.0
H021 Fail to apply car hnd brks -rr emp 31 0.4 5 12 8 8 6 60.0 -33.3 -25.0
M501 Interference(not vandals)with RR op. 31 0.4 9 8 7 7 7 -22.2 -12.5 .
T309 Switch (hand op) stand mechanism defect 31 0.4 10 8 6 5 7 -40.0 -25.0 40.0
M409 Lading chains/straps fouling switches 30 0.3 5 10 11 11 4 120.0 10.0 -63.6
T204 Broken weld (field) 30 0.3 5 7 7 5 11 40.0 . 120.0
T308 Stock rail worn, broken, disconnected 30 0.3 7 12 6 5 5 -14.3 -50.0 .
H999 Other train operation/human factors 29 0.3 9 5 8 7 7 -11.1 60.0 .
T212 Horizontal split head 29 0.3 10 5 8 5 6 -20.0 60.0 20.0
T217 Mismatched rail-head contour 29 0.3 4 10 9 9 6 125.0 -10.0 -33.3
H506 Lat DB force on curve excess, make-up 28 0.3 8 7 7 7 6 -12.5 . -14.3
T211 Head & web separation-in jt bar limit 27 0.3 5 6 10 10 6 100.0 66.7 -40.0
T215 Joint bar broken (noninsulated) 27 0.3 5 10 5 5 7 . -50.0 40.0
E62C Broken plate 26 0.3 6 9 7 7 4 16.7 -22.2 -42.9
T112 Wide gage(loose,broke, etc, gage rods) 26 0.3 8 6 7 6 5 -12.5 16.7 -16.7
T222 Worn rail 26 0.3 6 7 7 6 6 16.7 . .
T313 Switch out of adj. insuff. anchoring 26 0.3 4 4 8 7 10 100.0 100.0 42.9
E21C Center sill broken or bent 24 0.3 8 7 3 3 6 -62.5 -57.1 100.0
S011 Power switch failure 24 0.3 4 10 5 5 5 25.0 -50.0 .
E39C Oth coupler/draft system defects-car 23