Nevada Train Derailments 2026
Quick answer: Nevada had 3 train derailments in 2026 through August, the latest month in the FRA data, compared with 1 in January-August 2025. 2025 ended with 4 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 Nevada accidents today.
Nevada train derailment map
Every derailment in Nevada 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.
7 derailments shown
Latest train derailments in Nevada
Newest first, as filed by the railroads. Filters above also apply to this list.
| Date | Place | Railroad | Cars | Hazmat | Hurt | Cause (FRA) | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-02 | Wells, Elko County | Union Pacific Railroad Company | 17 | 22 in train | none | Damaged flange or tread (build up)Railroad's descriptionTRAIN MNPRV-01, LEAD UNIT UP5678, WAS TRAVELING AT 26 MPH, EMS WAS RUNNING, TRAIN WENT INTO UDE AT 1330 PST. 17 CARS DERAILED. FOUND EXCESSIVE SLAG BUILD UP ON A SET OF WHEELS. CAR ORIGINALLY DERAILEDAT MP 639.6 AND RERAILED ITSELF. AFTER INSPECTION, THE SLAG AND RAIL DAMAGE WAS FOUND STARTING AT MP 660 ON THE LAKES... |
FRA |
| 2026-05-16 | Elko, Elko County | Union Pacific Railroad Company | 14 | 39 in train | none | Other miscellaneous causesRailroad's descriptionMNPRV-15 DERAILED 14 CARS WHILE SHOVING INTO YARD TRACK. THREE RAILCARS WERE ON THE ADJACENT TRACK AND PUSHED OVER (OFF THE RAIL IN INDUSTRY) BY THE CARS THAT DERAILED ON THE MNPRV-15. AFTER REVIEWINGTHE DERAILMENT OF THE MNPRV 15 AT ELKO NV ON 5/16/26, REQUESTING M599 AS WE HAVE DETERMINED THAT NOSINGLE CONTRIBUTIN... |
FRA |
| 2026-03-27 | Sparks, Washoe County | Union Pacific Railroad Company | 30 | 2 in train | none | Broken Rail - Vertical split headRailroad's descriptionIOANP-26, UP6859 WAS TRAVELING EAST BOUND EMS RUNNING, TRAVERSED BROKEN RAIL AT MP263.29 DAMAGING REAR LOCOMOTIVE UP8543 AND DERAILING 30 HEAD CARS.RAIL = CWR |
FRA |
| 2025-12-28 | Deeth, Elko County | Union Pacific Railroad Company | 1 | 14 in train | none | Other axle and journal bearing defects (CAR)Railroad's descriptionMELNPX-26 WAS TRAVELING EAST ON THE LAKESIDE SUB, MT2, WHEN THE GPFX10422 SUFFERED A BURNT OFF JOURNAL AND DERAILED AT MP 588.9. THE TRAIN DID NOT EXPERIENCE A UDE AND KEPT MOVING EAST, THE CAR RERAILED ITSELF AT A CROSSING AT MP 589.3 AND LATER CAMETO REST AT MP 589.75. INITIAL REPORT INDICATED THECAR HAD NOT BEEN... |
FRA |
| 2025-10-28 | Sparks, Washoe County | Union Pacific Railroad Company | 1 | 5 in train | none | Shoving movement, absence of man on or at leading end of movementRailroad's descriptionYSP54R-27 PULLED A TRAVERSED DRILL SWITCH WHILE THE POWER SWITCH WAS IN PROCESS OF BEING LINED FOR THE DRILL. WHEN THE LOCOMOTIVE ENTERED THE OS, THE SWITCH STOPPED AND BECAME GAPPED ON BOTH SIDES CAUSING THE UPY651 TO DERAIL. THE DERAILMENT OCCURREDUNDENOUNCED TO THE CREW AND THEY THE PROCEEDED TODRAG THE LOCOMOTIV... |
FRA |
| 2025-10-01 | Sparks, Washoe County | Union Pacific Railroad Company | 4 | none | none | Interference (other than vandalism) with railroad operations by nonrailroad employeeRailroad's descriptionYSP22R-01 PULLED CARS OUT OF THE WEST END OF TK8, PULLED UP THE WEST END AND STOPPED CLEAR OF THE 3SWITCH. FOREMAN LINED THE TK3 SWITCH WITH EQUIPMENT STOPPED, THEN REALIZED THE EQUIPMENT WAS MOVINGEASTWARD. THE CARS DISCONNECTED FROM THE CUT DUE TO A TRESPASSER OPERATING THE PIN LIFTER AND STARTED ROLLING FREELY FR... |
FRA |
| 2025-03-02 | Elko, Elko County | Union Pacific Railroad Company | 3 | 23 in train | none | Other rail and joint bar defectsRailroad's descriptionMGRRV-01, WHILE PULLING TRAIN FORWARD IN WESTWARD DIRECTION TRAIN WENT INTO UNDESIRED EMERGENCY. THREE EMPTY AUTO RACKS WERE FOUND DERAILED MID TRAIN ON CURVE OF TURNOUT AT MP 559.26. TRAIN WAS TRAVERSING CURVE/TURNOUT APPROACHING 17/YARD 1 SWITCH. THE NORTH RAIL HAD MULTIPLE JOINTS AND WORN RAIL INA SHORT DISTANCE... |
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 7.
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.
Nevada 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 Nevada
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) · 3 derailments
2025 · 4 derailments
| Sub-group (2025-2026) | Derailments |
|---|---|
| Vandalism, outside interference, under investigation or unknown | 2 |
| Broken rails, joint bars, ties and fasteners | 2 |
| Wheels (worn or broken) | 1 |
| Axles and bearings (including overheated bearings) | 1 |
| Switching moves: shoving, coupling, derails left on | 1 |
| Most common exact causes (FRA wording) | Derailments |
|---|---|
| Damaged flange or tread (build up) | 1 |
| Other miscellaneous causes | 1 |
| Broken Rail - Vertical split head | 1 |
| Other axle and journal bearing defects (CAR) | 1 |
| Shoving movement, absence of man on or at leading end of movement | 1 |
| Interference (other than vandalism) with railroad operations by nonrailroad employee | 1 |
| Other rail and joint bar defects | 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 Nevada
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Union Pacific Railroad Company | 3 | 4 |
"-" = not in that year's top list.
Nevada derailments by county, 2025-2026
| County (as reported to FRA) | Derailments |
|---|---|
| Elko | 4 |
| Washoe | 3 |
Counties with big rail yards tend to top this list: 57% of the Nevada derailments on the map happened at a train speed of 10 mph or less.
Collisions and other train accidents in Nevada
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 | 3 | 4 |
| All rail equipment accidents | 3 | 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 Nevada in 2026?
Was there a train derailment today?
What causes most train derailments?
Where can I see a map of train derailments in Nevada?
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.