CSX Livingston, Kentucky Train Derailment Settlement

Train Derailment · Claims Open

Current Status

Claims are open. The deadline to file is October 19, 2026, whether you submit online or by mail, and the Notice states that date without a cutoff time or timezone, so do not assume one. The court has granted preliminary approval and authorized notice to the class, but it has not ruled on final approval: the Final Approval Hearing is set for December 9, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky in London, Kentucky. No payment date has been announced as of August 16, 2026, and the Notice states that payments will not go out until any appeals are resolved. Two dates come earlier than the claim deadline and are easy to miss: October 5, 2026 is the cutoff both to exclude yourself and to object.

What Changed Recently?

The court preliminarily certified a settlement class and authorized notice in Webb, et al. v. CSX Transportation, Inc., Case No. 6:23-cv-00211-REW, pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. That opened the claim process, and residents of the class area can now file with the settlement administrator, Simpluris, through the official settlement website.

The lawsuit alleges that CSX Transportation, Inc. is responsible for personal harm and property damage caused by the derailment. CSX denies those allegations, denies any wrongdoing in connection with the derailment, and states that it is settling to avoid further litigation. The court has not decided who is right, and the Notice describes the agreement as a compromise rather than a finding of liability.

The underlying event: on the afternoon of November 22, 2023, the day before Thanksgiving, a CSX train derailed north of Livingston in Rockcastle County, Kentucky. Sixteen railcars were involved, and two carrying molten sulfur were breached and caught fire. Burning molten sulfur releases sulfur dioxide, and the town of Livingston was evacuated while crews worked the fire; the governor declared a state of emergency for the surrounding area. CSX has said a failed wheel bearing caused the derailment, and the company has reported that all sixteen railcars, the spilled material and roughly 2,500 tons of affected soil were removed and replaced with clean fill. This is a different incident and a different railroad from the East Palestine, Ohio derailment, though the two are often mentioned together; we cover that one separately in our explainer on the Norfolk Southern East Palestine settlement and Amtrak lawsuit.

Who Qualifies?

You are a Settlement Class Member if, on November 22, 2023, you resided in or owned residential real property within a three-mile radius centered on the derailment site in Rockcastle County, Kentucky. Either one qualifies you. A renter who lived inside the radius is covered on the residency side, and an owner who lived elsewhere is covered on the ownership side.

The class excludes CSX Transportation, Inc.; Class Counsel; the judge presiding over the case; current CSX employees; and anyone who properly and timely files a request to be excluded. The claim portal describes the employee exclusion by reference to employment as of January 6, 2026.

Because the class line is drawn geographically rather than by a mailing list, the boundary itself is the thing most people need to check. The settlement website runs an address checker that estimates whether an address sits inside the class area using the U.S. Census Bureau geocoding service, and the site states plainly that the result is informational and not a final eligibility determination. If your address sits near the edge of the radius, treat the checker as a starting point and raise the question with the settlement administrator rather than assuming either answer.