The 2015 Tennessee train derailment occurred on July 2, 2015. A

CSX Transportation CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad company operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Operating about 21,000 route miles () of track, it is the lead ...

train derailed at

Maryville, Tennessee Maryville is a city in and the county seat of Blount County, Tennessee. Its population was 31,907 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The Great Indian Warpath (which was used to build the route U.S. Route 411, US-411) was long ...

. The train was carrying toxic chemicals, leading to an evacuation of over 5,000 people.

Accident

On July 2, 2015, a

freight train carrying

hazardous materials Dangerous goods are substances that are a risk to health, safety, property or the Natural environment, environment during transport. Certain dangerous goods that pose risks even when not being transported are known as hazardous materials (syll ...

derailed at

. The train was traveling from

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, to

Waycross, Georgia Waycross is the county seat of and only incorporated city in Ware County in the U.S. state of Georgia. The population was 13,942 in the 2020 census. Waycross gets its name from the city's location at key railroad junctions; lines from six di ...

. It comprised two locomotives and 57 freight cars, at least two of which were carrying

acrylonitrile Acrylonitrile is an organic compound with the formula and the structure . It is a colorless, volatile liquid. It has a pungent odor of garlic or onions. Its molecular structure consists of a vinyl group () linked to a nitrile (). It is an im ...

. Other railcars in the consist were carrying LPG. Three of the railcars were reported to have caught fire. An evacuation of all within a radius was ordered. The evacuation zone was later extended to , affecting over 5,000 people. Those evacuated were offered accommodation at the Heritage High School, where

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

personnel provided assistance, or at the Foothills Mall. Roads closed included U.S. Route 321. Fifty-two people were injured by inhaling fumes from the chemicals on the train. Twenty-five of them, including seven police officers, were hospitalized at the Blount Memorial Hospital, Maryville. CSX said it was helping residents find lodging. They also said there were at least three cars carrying the chemical, although only one was burning.

Investigation

The

National Transportation Safety Board The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and inci ...

(NTSB) has not opened an investigation into the accident, although that option remains open to them. The

Federal Railroad Administration The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966. The purpose of the FRA is to promulgate and enforce railroa ...

(FRA) lists a report from CSX stating that the cause of the accident was an overheated journal or roller bearing. It also states the number of injured as 197 and total damages as $272,000.

References

{{2015 railway accidents

Train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

Accidents and incidents involving CSX Transportation

Railway accidents and incidents in Tennessee

Derailments in the United States