What Were Some of the Deadliest Train Accidents in the U.S.?

Over the past few months, there have been many train accidents causing injury and even death to passengers. Some of these accidents are due to negligence while others are due to simple mistakes that went overlooked. In U.S. history, there have been many train accidents leading to deaths. Find out more about some of the most deadly crashes in U.S. history.

Most Deadly Crashes 

Philadelphia, 2015: In Pennsylvania, an eastbound Amtrak passenger train was traveling at more than 100 miles per hour, derailed, and killed eight people while also injuring more than 200. Human error and recklessly high speed was to blame, where the speed limit was only 50 mph. 

Washington, D.C., 2009: In this accident, a Metrorail train slammed into the back of another train due to electronic flaws. Six people were killed and 70 were injured. 

Glendale, 2005: In 2005, a Metrolink train collided with an abandoned SUV, which caused the train to derail and slam into a parked freight train locomotive. This killed eleven passengers and injured 180. 

Crescent City, 2002: When an Amtrak Auto Train derailed going 56 mph, it killed four people and injured over 140. This was due, they believe, to a heat-induced track buckle due to inadequate track-surfacing operations.

Secaucus, 1996: During medical examinations, an engineer failed to tell examiners about his color vision deficiency and possibly wasn’t able to perceive a red signal. Because of this, two New Jersey transit commuter trains collided nearly head-on. They were both killed as well as their one passenger. 

Mobile, 1993: When foggy conditions occurred, an Amtrak train derailed and killed 47 people. Another 103 were injured. A barge was blamed for the accident, as it had reportedly caused the train to derail.