Rhode Island Train Derailments 2026
Quick answer: Rhode Island had 1 train derailment in 2026 through August, the latest month in the FRA data, compared with 0 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 Rhode Island accidents today.
Rhode Island train derailment map
Every derailment in Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island
Newest first, as filed by the railroads. Filters above also apply to this list.
| Date | Place | Railroad | Cars | Hazmat | Hurt | Cause (FRA) | Report |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-01-05 | Pawtucket, Providence County | Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority | 3 | none | none | Switch improperly linedRailroad's descriptionPX1056 DERAILED WITHIN PAWTUCKET YARD BLOCKING THE MAIN LEAD. FINAL DAMAGE REPORT RECEIVED 01/13/26TOTAL DAMAGES 17,962 UPDATED. MORE EQUIPMENT DAMAGE REPORTS RECEIVED 2/26/26, TOTAL EQUIPMENT DAMAGE119,083. 7/16/26 TIMETABLE DIRECTION ADDED |
FRA |
| 2025-11-04 | Westerly, Washington County | Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) | 1 | none | none | Human Factor - trackRailroad's descriptionPettibone (A47971) derailed when the operator accidentally hit the lever for the boom to go down. There was damage to the track. |
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.
Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island
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 |
|---|---|
| Switches lined wrong, not locked or run through | 1 |
| Other human factors | 1 |
| Most common exact causes (FRA wording) | Derailments |
|---|---|
| Switch improperly lined | 1 |
| Human Factor - track | 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 Rhode Island
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority | 1 | - |
| Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) | - | 1 |
"-" = not in that year's top list.
Rhode Island derailments by county, 2025-2026
| County (as reported to FRA) | Derailments |
|---|---|
| Providence | 1 |
| Washington | 1 |
Counties with big rail yards tend to top this list: 50% of the Rhode Island derailments on the map happened at a train speed of 10 mph or less.
Collisions and other train accidents in Rhode Island
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) | 0 | 1 |
| All rail equipment accidents | 1 | 2 |
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 Rhode Island in 2026?
Was there a train derailment today?
What causes most train derailments?
Where can I see a map of train derailments in Rhode Island?
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.