# FRA Rail Accident & Derailment Reports (Form 54) (`hamsmoothie/rail-accident-reports-fra`) Actor

US railroad equipment accidents and derailments from the FRA Form 54 open dataset: railroad, location, damage, casualties, narrative.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/hamsmoothie/rail-accident-reports-fra.md
- **Developed by:** [Maybe Quark](https://apify.com/hamsmoothie) (community)
- **Categories:** Other, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$2.00 / 1,000 rail accident reports

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Train Derailment and Rail Accident Data: FRA Form 54 Reports

**FRA Rail Accident Reports** returns US railroad equipment accidents, derailments and collisions from the Federal Railroad Administration's open Form 54 dataset (Rail Equipment Accident/Incident Source Data on data.transportation.gov) as clean flat rows: date, railroad, incident number, accident type, state, county, station, latitude and longitude, cause code, total, equipment and track damage in USD, killed and injured counts, cars damaged, train speed and the reporter's narrative. Filter by year, state, railroad, accident type and minimum damage. No login or API key.

### Input

All fields are optional. This example returns derailments in California since 2025 with at least $100,000 in damage:

```json
{
  "sinceYear": 2025,
  "state": "CA",
  "railroad": "UP",
  "accidentType": "Derailment",
  "minDamageUsd": 100000,
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

- `sinceYear`: only accidents in this calendar year or later (default 2025).
- `state`: US state code such as `TX` or `CA`. Empty means all states.
- `railroad`: reporting railroad code such as `UP`, `BNSF`, `CSX`, `NS`. Empty means all.
- `accidentType`: `any` (default), `Derailment`, `Head-on collision`, `Rear-end collision`, `Side collision`, `Raking collision`, `Broken train collision`, `Highway-rail crossing`, `Railroad grade crossing`, `Obstruction`, `Explosion-detonation`, `Fire/violent rupture`, `Other impacts` or `Other`.
- `minDamageUsd`: only accidents with at least this much total damage (default 0).
- `maxItems`: rows to return, newest first (default 100).

### Output

One row per reported accident, newest first. Real example row:

```json
{
  "date": "2026-07-31",
  "railroad": "UP",
  "incidentNumber": "0726LA041",
  "accidentType": "Derailment",
  "state": "CA",
  "county": "LOS ANGELES",
  "station": "LONG BEACH",
  "latitude": 33.822599,
  "longitude": -118.226343,
  "causeCode": "T403",
  "totalDamageUsd": 168137,
  "equipmentDamageUsd": 164317,
  "trackDamageUsd": 3820,
  "totalKilled": 0,
  "totalInjured": 0,
  "carsDamaged": 0,
  "trainSpeedMph": 2,
  "narrative": "LOI21-31 CREW WAS SHOVING WEST DOWN 901 INTO 802 AS THE DTTX620643 INTERMODAL CAR CLEARED THE 802/80 1 SWITCH THE C/B WELLS ON DTTX620643 DERAILED DUE TO TRACK CONFIGURATION. **INDUSTRY MAINTAINS TRACK **",
  "url": "https://data.transportation.gov/dataset/Form-54-Source-Table/aqxq-n5hy"
}
```

### Use cases

Search phrases this actor is built for:

- **"Train derailment data"**: set `accidentType` to `Derailment` and a `sinceYear`.
- **"Railroad accident reports by railroad and state"**: set `railroad` (for example `BNSF`) and `state` to compare incidents.
- **"FRA Form 54 rail equipment accidents with damage"**: use `minDamageUsd` to rank the costliest accidents.

Typical users are rail-safety analysts, insurers and claims teams, law firms, journalists, emergency planners and shipper risk teams. It also works as a tool for AI agents through the Apify MCP server.

### Pricing

Pay per result: each accident row returned is one billable result, listed at $0.002 per row ($2 per 1,000). Set a maximum charge on the run for a hard ceiling.

### Limits

- Data is as reported by railroads to the FRA and may be revised by the FRA; recent accidents can lag the filing deadline.
- Only the Form 54 equipment accident/incident dataset is covered, not highway-rail crossing or casualty-only datasets.
- `cause` is returned as the FRA cause code, not a description.
- `maxItems` is capped at 50,000 per run.

### FAQ

**Where does the data come from?** The FRA Rail Equipment Accident/Incident Source Data (Form 54), published by the US Department of Transportation.

**Which railroads can I filter by?** Use the FRA reporting code, for example `UP`, `BNSF`, `CSX`, `NS`.

**Are results sorted?** Yes, newest first.

# Actor input Schema

## `sinceYear` (type: `integer`):

Only accidents in this calendar year or later.

## `state` (type: `string`):

US state code such as TX or CA. Leave empty for all states.

## `railroad` (type: `string`):

Reporting railroad code such as UP, BNSF, CSX, NS. Leave empty for all.

## `accidentType` (type: `string`):

Filter by accident type.

## `minDamageUsd` (type: `integer`):

Only accidents with at least this much total damage.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum rows to return, newest first.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "sinceYear": 2025,
  "state": "",
  "railroad": "",
  "accidentType": "any",
  "minDamageUsd": 0,
  "maxItems": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("hamsmoothie/rail-accident-reports-fra").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("hamsmoothie/rail-accident-reports-fra").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call hamsmoothie/rail-accident-reports-fra --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,hamsmoothie/rail-accident-reports-fra"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/Ef53ZHPDUqCfoDurU/builds/YKeQKnROnU6j4BDQQ/openapi.json