The historical background of train derailment from the following four aspects was briefly reviewed: causes of derailment,criteria for evaluation of derailment,derailment test,and derailment analysis.

• 中南大学列车脱轨研究组在近10年的研究中,提出了一套全新的列车脱轨分析理论,取得了突破性进展及实质性的应用成果,对此进行了简单介绍。