Delaware Train Derailments 2026
Quick answer: Delaware had 1 train derailment in 2026 through August, the latest month in the FRA data, compared with 3 in January-August 2025. 2025 ended with 3 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 Delaware accidents today.
Delaware train derailment map
Every derailment in Delaware 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.
4 derailments shown
Latest train derailments in Delaware
Newest first, as filed by the railroads. Filters above also apply to this list.
| Date | Place | Railroad | Cars | Hazmat | Hurt | Cause (FRA) | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-02-12 | Wilmington, New Castle County | CSX Transportation | 5 | none | none | Throttle (power), too rapid adjustmentRailroad's descriptionM41811 WAS SHOVING 29 TRASH CARS OFF ON WE4 AT WILSMERE YARD. WHILE SHOVING IN, THE CREW EXPERIENCEDAN UNDESIRED EMERGENCY BRAKE APPLICATION. UPON INSPECTION THE CONDUCTOR FOUND 5 CARS DERAILED, 3 UPRIGHT AND 2 ON THEIR SIDE. EMPLOYEE FAILED TO OPERATE TRAIN IN ACCORDANCE WITH OPERATING RULES RESULTING IN A DERAILMENT. |
FRA |
| 2025-06-27 | Wilmington, New Castle County | Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) | 1 | none | none | Switch improperly linedRailroad's descriptionEng KP-701 was operating South with lite E/726 on the O track at the Wilmington Shops after droppingoff an Acela set. Cond on the KP-701 was riding the rear of E/726 after just cutting away. Eng on KP-812 was on protect duty and was helping the KP-701 finish their work, by spotting the Acela set. It was asked where... |
FRA |
| 2025-06-13 | Bear, New Castle County | Norfolk Southern Railway Company | 13 | 13 damaged | none | Dynamic brake, too rapid adjustmentRailroad's description66XH209 WITH ENGINES NS 8086 & NS 1827 WITH 101 LOADS/0 EMPTIES/ 13981 TONS/ 6,145 FT PULLING NORTHTHROUGH DELPRO YARD ON TO NEW CASTLE SECONDARY DERAILED POSITION #28- 43 ON DELPRO LEAD. 13 CARS TOTAL DERAILED DUE TO RAPID ADJUSTMENT DYNAMIC BRAKE. |
FRA |
| 2025-05-16 | Frankford, Sussex County | Delmarva Central Railroad Co. | 5 | none | none | Other train operation/human factorsRailroad's descriptionHA-03 TRAVELING NORTHBOUND WITH 16 LDS (7 LDS > 263K LBS) AND 9 MTYS WHEN CARS #18 - #19 DERAILED. |
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 4.
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.
Delaware 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 Delaware
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 · 3 derailments
| Sub-group (2025-2026) | Derailments |
|---|---|
| Train handling and make-up (slack action, braking, heavy cars placed wrong) | 2 |
| Switches lined wrong, not locked or run through | 1 |
| Other human factors | 1 |
| Most common exact causes (FRA wording) | Derailments |
|---|---|
| Throttle (power), too rapid adjustment | 1 |
| Switch improperly lined | 1 |
| Dynamic brake, too rapid adjustment | 1 |
| Other train operation/human factors | 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 Delaware
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 |
|---|---|---|
| CSX Transportation | 1 | - |
| Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) | - | 1 |
| Norfolk Southern Railway Company | - | 1 |
| Delmarva Central Railroad Co. | - | 1 |
"-" = not in that year's top list.
Delaware derailments by county, 2025-2026
| County (as reported to FRA) | Derailments |
|---|---|
| New Castle | 3 |
| Sussex | 1 |
Counties with big rail yards tend to top this list: 100% of the Delaware derailments on the map happened at a train speed of 10 mph or less.
Collisions and other train accidents in Delaware
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 | 3 |
| Other impact | 0 | 1 |
| All rail equipment accidents | 1 | 4 |
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 Delaware in 2026?
Was there a train derailment today?
What causes most train derailments?
Where can I see a map of train derailments in Delaware?
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.