Investigation of a Columbus, Ohio train derailment caused by fractured rail

Abstract

On July 11, 2012 an eastbound Norfolk Southern train derailed 17 cars within the city limits of Columbus, OH. Three of the cars that derailed were carrying over 86,000 gallons of denatured ethanol. Once breached, the ethanol in the tank cars ignited, fueling a large fire. The derailment led to the evacuation of over 100 people and cost over $1.2 million. This paper will detail the on-scene response and failure analysis performed by the NTSB Materials Laboratory, focusing on the recovered rail that contained 25 transverse detail fractures.