Train derailments have increased under Joe Biden, decreased over 50% since 2003

• Robby Brod
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Robby Brod was the Democracy Beat reporter for WITF.

Happy Fact Check Friday!

I’m looking into misinformation surrounding the East Palestine train derailment.

Scott Perry recently tweeted that derailments have increased since President Biden and Transportation Secretary Buttigieg took office, which is true – but doesn’t tell the full story.

It’s throughly unacceptable that train derailments are increasing while Transportation Secretary Buttigieg and President Biden remain asleep at the switch.

— RepScottPerry (@RepScottPerry) February 15, 2023

According to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the total number of derailments was 2,133 in 2003. By 2020, that number had fallen to 1,013.

In 2022, there were 1,044 derailments, a 4.2% increase from the previous year (1,002) – but they’re down 16% since 2019.

During Trump’s administration, derailments continued to decline, but peaked in 2018 with 1,376 derailments.

The derailment accident rate is typically measured in terms of accidents per million train miles, and this rate has also generally decreased over time.

In 2003, the derailment accident rate was 3.2 per million train miles, while in 2022, it was 1.5 per million train miles. During the Trump administration, the rate continued to decline, but peaked at 16.99, which is higher than Biden’s 2022 accident rate of 16.69.

What are you hearing about the derailment? Seeing anything that looks like misinformation? Have any questions about the facts about the situation? Let me know!