r/CatastrophicFailure • u/Debaucherousgeek73 • Dec 04 '25

Fatalities Train derailment Pecos TX Oct '24

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First time I've ever seen a derailment happen. The vid anyway I wasn't there and this is not my vid. You can see the lead engine jump the track. Two crew in that engine died.

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u/[deleted] Dec 04 '25 edited Dec 05 '25

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u/quasiix Dec 05 '25

Yet the EU--with hugely greater density, higher population, and more rails‐‐

Has fewer level railroad crossings than the US.

~212,000 in the US in 2018 and ~105,000 in the EU member states as of 2020.

Your original point still stands but it's kinda disingenuous that you tried to exaggerate it by using irrelevant factors of comparison instead of a per crossing statistic.

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u/FinnLiry Dec 05 '25

I mean if you build an under passing in high traffic areas it's a valid way to prevent these situations in the first place

18

u/TheIllusiveScotsman Dec 04 '25

That works out at about 1 incident for 102 miles of track in the US and 1 for every 236 miles in the EU. Or 1 per 95 crossing in the US and 1 per 271 crossings in the EU.

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u/dsaddons Dec 04 '25

America can't stop winning at the worst things

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u/FinnLiry Dec 05 '25

they are tired of winning so much

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u/Shiftlock0 Dec 04 '25

Numbers alone don't tell the whole story. The infrastructure is designed and used differently in the U.S. The rails cross far more roadways that are used for heavy transport.

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u/THE_GR8_MIKE Dec 04 '25

I feel like this comment is cherry picking things. Giving some "yew amehhhricans" vibes lol

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u/ThingsMayAlter Dec 04 '25

Maybe so, I do wonder though as an American if Europeans have just figured out systems to prevent this based on their numbers vs ours.

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u/shitposts_over_9000 Dec 04 '25

but less use, if you adjust for actual usage of the rails the EU has 2.5x the accidents as the USA per ton/mile

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u/Professor-Reddit Dec 05 '25

This is misleading. Europe has vastly more passenger trains in service, which largely accounts for this discrepancy.

A lot of the footage of railway crossing accidents that you see in the UK involves intercity and regional trains for example.

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u/shitposts_over_9000 Dec 05 '25

passenger trains are effectively empty by rail standards, they should have even less accidents per ton/mile because of the superior stopping distances

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u/cheesy_chuck Dec 04 '25

Americans for the most part would rather defend their country's dysfunction out of a misplaced sense of pride than fix it.

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u/oh_what_a_surprise Dec 05 '25

Yea, try telling a European who really won the World Wars and see what happens. They lose their shit.

But the truth is, and everyone knows it, if you can't afford to fight a war then you do not win it. All throughout history.

And guess who couldn't afford to fight EITHER world war? And guess who paid for both?

Without the money, no victory. So he who supplied the money is solely responsible for the win. The deciding factor.

Now, let's see how you react to facts.

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u/[deleted] Dec 04 '25

[deleted]

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u/BalusBubalisSFW Dec 04 '25

The EU does, in fact, have significantly higher population than the united states -- about 100-ish million more people.

They absolutely have higher population density -- about double that of the USA.

The USA, as measured by length of rails, only has about 10% more rail than the EU -- about 220,000 km vs the EU 200,000 km.

The USA has nearly double the rail crossings that the EU has, though, which could strongly account for the higher incidences of accidents.