There goes another one

Authorities in Van Buren Township, Mich., warned residents to avoid the area near the derailment and closed roadways near the incident as authorities investigate the accident, according to a safety alert issued Thursday. Authorities said that there was “no evidence” that hazardous materials were exposed since no rail cars carrying such materials were “compromised.”

[...]

Michigan Rep. Lisa McClain (R) called on Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to take responsibility for the derailment.

  The Hill

Pete Buttigieg said Transportation doesn't own or run trains. And blames in part at least Trump withdrawing a braking rule that was in place before he took office. (So maybe that should be put back in place?)

Apparently, this is not uncommon.

In 2021, there were 1,087 derailments that resulted in 83 injuries and three fatalities, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics. That's down from 1,440 derailments in 2011 and down from 2,234 derailments in 2001.

Between 1990 and 2021, there were a total of 54,570 derailments, for an average of 1,705 a year.

With that figure averaging to about 142 derailments a month, 2023 is so far on track to continue the declining trend in yearly incidents.

  Newsweek

All I can say is it must be cheaper for rail companies to pay for damages and repairs than to fix whatever the issue is that's causing so many derailments.

UPDATE 02/21/2023:

UPDATE 02/23/2023:

So who the hell was responsible for categorizing it?