This information is preliminary and subject to change.
Release Date 30 June 2026
On June 11, 2026, about 3:24 p.m. local time, Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) mixed freight train 197T610 derailed at milepost 243.7 on the South Subdivision of the Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway near Wartburg, Tennessee.[1] The train was crewed by a conductor and an engineer. It consisted of 2 head-end locomotives, 57 empty railcars, and 67 loaded railcars, including 23 tank cars carrying hazardous materials. The train was traveling southbound about 32 mph on main track 2 when it derailed 29 railcars from near the head end of the train. The derailed equipment included 19 tank cars containing hazardous materials:
- 3 DOT-117J tank cars carrying UN1170, ethanol, Class 3 flammable liquid, Packing Group II; and
- • 5 DOT-117R and 11 DOT-117J tank cars carrying UN1987, alcohols n.o.s. (not otherwise specified), Class 3 flammable liquid, Packing Group II.[2]
Two DOT-117R tank cars and one DOT-117J tank car breached in the derailment and released alcohol, which ignited, exposing additional tank cars to fire conditions. Seven of these tank cars, and one of the three breached during the derailment, released alcohols from their top and bottom service equipment, which also ignited.[3] No injuries were reported. Emergency responders established a 1-mile evacuation zone for about 6.5 hours. The fire continued until late morning on June 14. NS estimated the total released volume to be about 107,000 gallons of alcohols and the damage to be about $5.3 million. Visibility conditions at the time of the derailment were daylight and clear; the weather was 91°F with no precipitation.
Train 197T610 was southbound from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was designated as a key train because it had more than 20 loads of hazardous material.[4] The track at the derailment site consisted of two main tracks with a maximum authorized speed of 40 mph and was equipped with a positive train control system.[5]
All aspects of the derailment and hazardous materials release remain under investigation while the National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause with the intent to issue safety recommendations to prevent similar events.
Parties to the investigation include:
- the Federal Railroad Administration;
- NS;
- Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen;
- Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes; and
- International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers.[6]
[1] The Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway, a wholly owned subsidiary of NS, owns the track where the derailment occurred.
[2] (a) Hazard classes, packing groups, and associated packaging requirements are described in Title 49
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 173. (b) DOT-117 is a tank car specification established in Title 49 CFR Part 179; DOT-117J tank cars are built to this specification, and DOT-117R tank cars are retrofitted from DOT-111 tank cars.
[3] As defined in 49 CFR 180.503,
service equipment means equipment used for loading and unloading (including an interior heating system), sampling, venting, vacuum relief, pressure relief, and measuring the amount of lading or the lading temperature.
[4]
Key train is defined by the Association of the American Railroads in Circular OT-55-R.
[5] According to the Federal Railroad Administration,
positive train control is a family of systems designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, over-speed derailments, incursions into established work zone limits, and the movement of a train through a switch left in the wrong position (49 CFR 236.1005).
[6] The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes omits an e from “employees” for historical reasons.
