The only derailment of a Shinkansen in normal operations occurred as a result of the 2004 Chūetsu earthquake; no injuries were reported from this accident.

A derailment is an accident on a railway whereby a train leaves the rails, which can result in damage, injury, and death. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1280 × 960 pixel, file size: 566 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Descarrilamento do Shinkansen em Chuetsu, 23 de Outubro de 2004. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1280 × 960 pixel, file size: 566 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Descarrilamento do Shinkansen em Chuetsu, 23 de Outubro de 2004. ... 300 (left) and 700 Series Shinkansen at Tokyo Station Shinkansen 500 Series at Kyoto Station, March 2005 The Shinkansen ) is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by Japan Railways. ... The Chūetsu Earthquakes ) began at 5:56 p. ... It has been suggested that Local trains be merged into this article or section. ...

There are several main causes of derailment: broken or misaligned rails, excessive speed, and faults in the train and its wheels. Derailment can also occur as a secondary effect in the aftermath of a collision between two or more trains. Trap points protect main lines from runaway vehicles by deliberately derailing them to bring them to a stop. Flangeless wheels make it easier for a locomotive to negotiate curves, but make them more prone to derailment. Rail tracks. ... The force bearing on the axle has an eccentricity e with the point of contact to the rolling surface and exerts a moment about the contact point. ... Trap points and a sand drag protect the exit of a station passing loop (left), while catch points stop vehicles from running away down a steep slope (right). ... Great Western Railway No. ... In mathematics, the concept of a curve tries to capture the intuitive idea of a geometrical one-dimensional and continuous object. ...

Rerailing

Rerailing a train after it has derailed is not an easy task, and often requires the use of large rail mounted cranes. A railroad crane owned by the German firm Magdeburger Hafen GmbH. A railroad crane is a piece of rail transport maintenance of way equipment. ...

Example accidents

Most railway accidents involve derailment. See list of rail accidents. List of rail accidents from 2000 to the present. ...

• November 11, 1833 – Hightstown, New Jersey, United States: Carriages of a Camden & Amboy train derail at 25 miles per hour in the New Jersey meadows between Spotswood and Hightstown when an axle breaks on a car due to an overheated journal. One car overturns, killing two and injuring fifteen. Among the survivors is Cornelius Vanderbilt who will later head the New York Central Railroad. He suffers two cracked ribs and a punctured lung, and spends a month recovering from the injuries. Uninjured in the coach ahead is former U.S. President John Quincy Adams, who continues on to the Nation's Capital the next day.

• January 6, 1853 – Andover, Massachusetts, United States: The Boston & Maine noon express, traveling from Boston to Lawrence, Massachusetts, derails at forty miles an hour when an axle breaks at Andover, and the only coach goes down an embankment and breaks in two. Only one is killed, the twelve-year-old son of President-elect Franklin Pierce, but it is initially reported that General Pierce is also a fatality. He was on board but is only badly bruised. The baggage car and the locomotive remain on the track.

• April 16, 1853 – Cheat River, West Virginia, United States: Two Baltimore & Ohio passenger cars tumble down a hundred foot ravine above the Cheat River in West Virginia, west of Cumberland, Maryland, after they are derailed by a loose rail.

Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... November 11 is the 315th day of the year (316th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 50 days remaining. ... Year 1833 (MDCCCXXXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... John Quincy Adams (July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was a diplomat, politician, and President of the United States (March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829). ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1853 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Location in Massachusetts Coordinates: , Country State County Essex County Settled 1642 Incorporated 1646 Government  - Type Open town meeting  - Town Manager Reginald Buzz Stapczynski  - Board of    Selectmen Ted Teichert (2009) Mary Lyman (2008) Alexander Vispoli (2010) Jerry Stabile (2010) Brian Major (2009) Area  - Town  32. ... The Boston & Maine (AAR reporting mark BM), also known by the abbreviation B&M, was the dominant railroad of the northern New England region of the United States for a century. ... Birthplace of Franklin Pierce Franklin Pierce (November 23, 1804 — October 8, 1869) was an American politician and the fourteenth President of the United States, serving from 1853 to 1857. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... is the 106th day of the year (107th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1853 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad or B&O was a 19th century railroad which operated in the east coast of the United States and was the first railroad to offer commercial transportation of both people and freight. ...

20th Century

• December 12, 1917 – Saint Michel de Maurienne, France: A military train derails at the entrance of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel after running away down a steep gradient; brake power was insufficient for the weight of the train. Around 800 deaths estimated, 540 officially confirmed. The world's worst ever derailment, and worst rail disaster up to the end of the 20th century.

• July 2, 1922 – Winslow, Camden County, New Jersey, United States: The Owl, a Reading Railroad train derailment, at Winslow Junction on the West Jersey and Seashore Line tracks near the Winslow Tower, shortly before mid-night, Train 33 derails when the seashore bound locomotive going more than 90 miles per hour sped through an open switch. 4 passengers, the engineer, fireman and conductor were killed.

• February 18, 1947 – Blair County, Pennsylvania, United States: The Red Arrow, a Pennsylvania Railroad express passenger train, jumped off the track on the Bennington Curve near Altoona, Pennsylvania and tumbled down a large hill. 24 killed, 131 injured.

Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... is the 346th day of the year (347th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... The Fréjus Rail Tunnel (also called Mont Cenis Tunnel) is a railroad tunnel of 13. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... is the 183rd day of the year (184th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1922 (MCMXXII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar). ... Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Categories: Rail stubs | Philadelphia and Reading Railroad ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... is the 49th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Blair County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. ... 1893 map The Pennsylvania Railroad (AAR reporting mark PRR) was an American railroad that was founded in 1846 and merged in 1968 into Penn Central Transportation. ... Altoona is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania, United States. ...

21st Century

• May 10, 2002 – Potters Bar rail crash, Potters Bar, England, United Kingdom: A points failure caused a British Rail Class 365 to derail on the approach to Potters Bar railway station. As a result, the train slid sideways across the station platform, killing six on the train and one under the road bridge.
• January 31, 2003 – Waterfall train disaster, Waterfall, New South Wales, Australia: A train derails as it rounds a sharp curve rated for 60 km/h at a speed of 117 km/h, after the train driver has a heart attack. The two safety mechanisms - the driver's deadman's brake which remained depressed because of the drivers weight, and the guard who could have applied the emergency brake, but was in a microsleep at the time - were found to be the direct causes of the incident.
• February 23, 2007 – Grayrigg derailment, Grayrigg, England, United Kingdom: The 17:15 Virgin West Coast Pendolino service from London Euston to Glasgow Central, travelling on the West Coast Main Line derailed owing to stretcher bars having become disconnected.

Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... is the 130th day of the year (131st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also see: 2002 (number). ... The Potters Bar rail crash occurred on May 10, 2002 at Potters Bar, in Hertfordshire just north of Greater London, when a northbound train derailed at high speed, killing seven and seriously injuring another eleven. ... Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, looking north towards the railway bridge Potters Bar is a town in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom,[2] located 16 miles (25 km) directly north of London. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem specific to England — the United Kingdom anthem is God Save the Queen. ... A railroad switch is a mechanical installation enabling trains to be guided from one set of rail tracks (or tramway tracks) to another. ... Categories: Stub | Multiple Units ... Potters Bar railway station serves the town of Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, England. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... is the 31st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Media photo of police surveying the scene of the Waterfall Rail Disaster. ... F6 Southern Freeway, view south from Waterfall onramp Waterfall is a small suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. ... A dead mans switch (also known as - mainly in Britain - as a dead mans handle) is a device intended to take some action if the human operator becomes incapacitated in some way, a form of fail-safe practice. ... A microsleep is a period of sleep lasting no more than a few seconds up to a minute. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... February 23 is the 54th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Viaduct carrying the West Coast Main Line near the scene of the accident The Grayrigg derailment was a train crash that occurred at 20:10 (GMT) on 23 February 2007, at Grayrigg, Cumbria, in north-west England. ... Grayrigg is a small village 5 miles away from the Cumbrian town of Kendal. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem specific to England — the United Kingdom anthem is God Save the Queen. ... Virgin West Coast is the part of Virgin Trains that operates express trains from London Euston. ... Class 390 no. ... Euston station, also known as London Euston, is a major railway station to the north of central London in the London Borough of Camden. ... Glasgow Central is the larger of the two present main-line railway terminals in Glasgow, Scotland, and is managed by Network Rail. ... The WCML running alongside the M1 motorway at Watford Gap in Northamptonshire A Virgin Pendolino and freight train on the WCML The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important intercity railway lines in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system. ...

See also

• List of rail accidents
• Classification of railway accidents
• Tram accident

List of rail accidents from 2000 to the present. ... Classification of railway accidents, both in terms of cause and effect, is a valuable aid in studying rail (and other) accidents to help to prevent similar ones occurring in future. ... // A tram in Helsinki, Finland A tram accident is generally an accident in which a tram is involved. ...

References

Track caused derailments are usually caused by wide gauge. Proper gauge, the distance between rails, is 56.5 inches. As tracks wear from train traffic the rails tend to spread apart. This is primarily because wood ties weaken and crack from the stress of bearing train load tonage. As ties waeken they loose a solid tight grip on the spikes which hold the track gauge. As the gauge between rails widens, the train wheels drop between the rails. Train tracks most often loose gauge in curves, where the outside wheels push the rail out. Most railroads are replacing wood ties with concrete ties. Concrete ties are better as they are prestessed and poured with a metal slot to hold the base of the rail in place. But converting existing tracks to concrete ties is costly and time consuming.