Maine Train Derailments 2026
Quick answer: Maine had 2 train derailments in 2026 through August, the latest month in the FRA data, compared with 2 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 Maine accidents today.
Maine train derailment map
Every derailment in Maine 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.
5 derailments shown
Latest train derailments in Maine
Newest first, as filed by the railroads. Filters above also apply to this list.
| Date | Place | Railroad | Cars | Hazmat | Hurt | Cause (FRA) | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-08 | Orono, Penobscot County | CSX Transportation | 15 | none | none | Roadbed settled or softRailroad's descriptionL06008 DERAILED MULTIPLE HAZMAT TANK CARS WHILE TRAVELING WESTERLY ON THE MAIN LINE. 13 TOTAL CARS DERAILED ALONG WITH ONE WHEEL FROM LEADING ENGINE AND TWO WHEELS FROM TRAILING ENGINE DUE TO ROUGH TRACK. |
FRA |
| 2026-01-26 | Scarborough, Cumberland County | CSX Transportation | 2 | 46 in train | none | Snow, ice, mud, gravel, coal, sand, etc. on trackRailroad's descriptionM42726 DEPARTED RIGBY YARD DERAILED ALL WHEELS OF THE 3RD LOCOMOTIVE(CSXT 7391) AND ALL WHEELS OF THE HEAD CAR (IANR 624474 LOAD OF LUMBER FBC) ON THE EAST LEG OF THE DISPATCHER CONTROLLED CROSSOVER AT COOKS. UPON INVESTIGATION IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE SWITCH HEATERS WERE NOT OPERATING AND SNOW AND ICE GOT PACKED... |
FRA |
| 2025-10-22 | Oakfield, Aroostook County | Maine Northern Railway Company | 5 | none | none | Switch point worn or brokenRailroad's descriptionCREW WAS SHOVING NORTHWARD INTO TRACK 36 IN OAKFIELD YARD. AFTER 21 CARS HAD ENTERED THE TRACK THEMOVEMENT CAME TO A STOP, TRAIN DID NOT DUMP, JUST STALLED. WHEN CREW INVESTIGATED AS TO WHY, THEY FOUND 5 CARS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MOVEMENT HAD DERAILED NEAR 36 SWITCH. INVESTIGATION AFTER THE INCIDENT DETERMINED A BRO... |
FRA |
| 2025-08-05 | Carmel, Penobscot County | CSX Transportation | 4 | none | none | Cross level of track irregular (at joints)Railroad's description4 EMPTY TANK CARS DERAILED ON L07104 WHILE TRAVELING EAST ON THE WATERVILLE SUB. DURING THE INVESTIGATION IT WAS DETERMINED THAT A COMBINATION TRACK GEOMETRY (CURVE), UNEVEN CROSS LEVEL VARIANCE ON THE JOINTED RAIL BEFORE AND AFTER PD ALONG WITH , 56.5" GAUGE, FULL WHEEL FLANGES AND THE TRAIN TRAVELING AT A CONSISTE... |
FRA |
| 2025-04-18 | Jay, Franklin County | CSX Transportation | 7 | none | none | Broken Rail - Head and web separation (outside joint bar limits)Railroad's descriptionL05418 WAS HAULING TRAIN EAST TO GO TO RUMFORD WHEN IT WENT INTO EMERGENCY. CONDUCTOR WALKED BACK TOFIND 7 CARS HAD DERAILED DUE TO BROKEN RAIL. |
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 5.
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.
Maine 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 Maine
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) · 2 derailments
2025 · 3 derailments
| Sub-group (2025-2026) | Derailments |
|---|---|
| Roadbed: soft, settled or washed-out ground | 1 |
| Weather and debris: snow, ice, flood, tornado, high wind | 1 |
| Switches, frogs and other track appliances | 1 |
| Track geometry: wide gauge, misaligned or buckled track | 1 |
| Broken rails, joint bars, ties and fasteners | 1 |
| Most common exact causes (FRA wording) | Derailments |
|---|---|
| Roadbed settled or soft | 1 |
| Snow, ice, mud, gravel, coal, sand, etc. on track | 1 |
| Switch point worn or broken | 1 |
| Cross level of track irregular (at joints) | 1 |
| Broken Rail - Head and web separation (outside joint bar limits) | 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 Maine
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 | 2 | 2 |
| Maine Northern Railway Company | - | 1 |
"-" = not in that year's top list.
Maine derailments by county, 2025-2026
| County (as reported to FRA) | Derailments |
|---|---|
| Penobscot | 2 |
| Cumberland | 1 |
| Aroostook | 1 |
| Franklin | 1 |
Counties with big rail yards tend to top this list: 60% of the Maine derailments on the map happened at a train speed of 10 mph or less.
Collisions and other train accidents in Maine
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 | 2 | 3 |
| Other (see narrative) | 0 | 1 |
| All rail equipment accidents | 2 | 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 Maine in 2026?
Was there a train derailment today?
What causes most train derailments?
Where can I see a map of train derailments in Maine?
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.