2 train derailments have similar risks, different outcomes

By JOHN FLESHER
Associated Press

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Two train derailments in neighboring states had very different outcomes — and officials say that’s not unusual. Some cars in a Norfolk Southern cargo train went off the tracks Thursday in Michigan’s Van Buren Township near Detroit. A couple cars turned over, but apparently nothing was spilled. That’s a sharp contrast from a derailment earlier this month in East Palestine, Ohio, where 50 cars, including 10 with toxic chemicals, crashed. It led to evacuations and a chemical release. Experts say factors such as speed and what a train is carrying help determine severity of derailments. There have been more than 12,400 train derailments in the U.S. over the past decade.