News & Reviews News Wire Tennessee derailment leads to school evacuation, disrupts commuter rail service

Tennessee derailment leads to school evacuation, disrupts commuter rail service

By Trains Staff | March 22, 2022

| Last updated on March 21, 2024

Tank car in 11-car incident briefly leads to hazardous-material precautions

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Overturned railroad cars near house
Eleven cars of a Nashville & Eastern train derailed Monday in Mt. Juliet, Tenn. Mt. Juliet Fire Department, via Facebook

MT. JULIET, Tenn. — Eleven cars of a train on R.J. Corman’s Nashville & Eastern Railroad derailed Monday, briefly leading to a shelter-in-place order for a local school while a potential hazardous-material situation was investigated.

WTVF-TV reports the derailment occurred near midday in Mt. Juliet, a suburb about 17 miles east of downtown Nashville. Nearby residents and student at Mt. Juliet Elementary School were told to shelter in place because a propane tank car was among the railcars involved; students were evacuated within an hour. The car was eventually determined to be empty and not leaking any residual gas.

The derailment occurred on the route of the WeGo Star commuter rail operation, with bus service operating around the accident site. The transit agency said in a press release that it was developing a contingency plan for service for the rest of the week.

3 thoughts on “Tennessee derailment leads to school evacuation, disrupts commuter rail service

  1. Is it my imagination or has there been a lot more derailments of freight trains in the last year or so?

  2. Seeing that RJ Corman owns an extensive recovery operation themselves, I can’t see this one taking very long to clean up.

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