Alaska Train Derailments 2026
Quick answer: Alaska had 1 train derailment in 2026 through August, the latest month in the FRA data, compared with 1 in January-August 2025. 2025 ended with 1 derailments. FRA figures run 2-3 months behind: for a derailment today, see accidents today.
Updated · FRA records through 31 August 2026 · Source: Federal Railroad Administration, Form 54 (public domain)
Looking for a derailment today? Official FRA data lags 2-3 months, so recent crashes are not on this map yet. See accidents today (every accident report from the last 24 hours) and the live accident map, which lists rail accidents from news reports every 15 minutes, or Alaska accidents today.
Alaska train derailment map
Every derailment in Alaska reported to the FRA in 2025 and 2026, placed at the coordinates the railroad reported. Click a dot for the railroad, cars derailed, hazmat, injuries, cause and the official FRA report.
2 derailments shown
Latest train derailments in Alaska
Newest first, as filed by the railroads. Filters above also apply to this list.
| Date | Place | Railroad | Cars | Hazmat | Hurt | Cause (FRA) | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-24 | Girdwood, Anchorage County passenger | Alaska Railroad Corporation | 1 | none | none | Snow, ice, mud, gravel, coal, sand, etc. on trackRailroad's descriptionON 8.24.2026 AT 1053 AKDT, TRAIN 225W SB DERAILED THE FRONT 2 AXLES OF THE LEAD LOCOMOTIVE ARR 3015DUE TO MUD/ROCK DEBRIS COVERING THE TRACKS NEAR MP 80 ON THE KENAI SUB-DIVISION. THE ESTIMATED SPEED AT THE TIME THE PASSENGER TRAIN IMPACTED THE DEBRIS FAN WAS 38 MPH. NO INJURIES WERE REPORTED AT THE TIME OF THE EVENT. |
FRA |
| 2025-06-06 | Talkeetna, Matanuska Susitna County | Alaska Railroad Corporation | 2 | none | none | Shoving movement, man on or at leading end of movement, failure to controlRailroad's descriptionWHILE MAKING A PLANNED RAIL CAR PICK-UP AT CURRY THE CREW SECURED THEIR TRAIN ON CONTROLLED TRACK AND UTILIZED THEIR MULTIPLE UNIT CONSIST [3 LOCOMOTIVES] TO SHOVE NORTHBOUND INTO CURRY LOOP. DURINGTHE NORTHBOUND SHOVE THE CONDUCTOR WAS ON THE NORTH/LEADING-EDGE LOCATION OF THE MULTIPLE UNIT CONSIST AND INFORMED THE... |
FRA |
"Cars" counts derailed cars and locomotives. "Hazmat" counts cars carrying hazardous materials: released = some product escaped. Showing up to 50 rows; the map has all 2.
Recent rail accident news
Headlines our live monitor matched as rail accidents. These are news reports, not FRA records: details may change and some will never meet the FRA reporting threshold.
Alaska train derailments by year
2026 covers January-August only. Each derailment is counted once, even when more than one railroad filed a report.
* 2026 to date (January-August, preliminary). Source: FRA Form 54, distinct accidents with accident type "derailment".
Top causes of train derailments in Alaska
The railroad codes a primary cause on every report from FRA's train accident cause code list. We group the codes into FRA's five main groups and their sub-groups, in plain English.
2026 (to August) · 1 derailments
2025 · 1 derailments
| Sub-group (2025-2026) | Derailments |
|---|---|
| Weather and debris: snow, ice, flood, tornado, high wind | 1 |
| Switching moves: shoving, coupling, derails left on | 1 |
| Most common exact causes (FRA wording) | Derailments |
|---|---|
| Snow, ice, mud, gravel, coal, sand, etc. on track | 1 |
| Shoving movement, man on or at leading end of movement, failure to control | 1 |
Counts for 2025 and 2026 to date. The sub-groups sum only the top rows. A cause "under investigation" is updated when the railroad amends its report.
Railroads with the most derailments in Alaska
By the railroad that filed the main report. Large railroads run far more train-miles, so a higher count does not by itself mean a worse safety record.
| Railroad | 2026 (to Aug) | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska Railroad Corporation | 1 | 1 |
"-" = not in that year's top list.
Alaska derailments by county, 2025-2026
| County (as reported to FRA) | Derailments |
|---|---|
| Anchorage | 1 |
| Matanuska Susitna | 1 |
Counties with big rail yards tend to top this list: 50% of the Alaska derailments on the map happened at a train speed of 10 mph or less.
Collisions and other train accidents in Alaska
Derailments are the largest group of rail equipment accidents. The same FRA reports also cover collisions, fires and trains hitting obstructions.
| Accident type (FRA) | 2026 (to Aug) | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Derailment | 1 | 1 |
| Other (see narrative) | 2 | 0 |
| All rail equipment accidents | 3 | 1 |
Highway-rail crossing crashes appear here only when train or track damage passed the FRA threshold; most crossing crashes are reported on a separate form (FRA F 6180.57) and are not in this table.
Train derailments: FAQ
How many train derailments have there been in Alaska in 2026?
Was there a train derailment today?
What causes most train derailments?
Where can I see a map of train derailments in Alaska?
How many train derailments happen a year in the US?
Where does this data come from?
About this data
- Source: Federal Railroad Administration, Rail Equipment Accident/Incident Data (Form 54) on data.transportation.gov (readable view of the source dataset aqxq-n5hy). US government work, public domain. Cause groups: FRA train accident cause codes (Appendix C of the FRA reporting guide).
- What is counted: accidents with FRA accident type 01 (derailment) that caused damage above the FRA reporting threshold. Each accident is counted once by its FRA incident key, even when two or three railroads filed reports. Killed and injured are the accident totals; hazmat cars are added up across the railroads' reports.
- Lag: railroads report each month's accidents by the end of the following month and FRA publishes after that, so the data runs 2-3 months behind. The latest month can still rise as late reports arrive. This page re-checks FRA once a day.
- Map positions are the latitude and longitude the railroad entered on the report; a few may be approximate.
- Not included: accidents below the damage threshold, transit systems that do not report to FRA, and Canada. Canadian rail occurrence statistics are published by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.