In recent years there is a growing demand for standardisation of exceptional and accidental actions on structures. Some of them (e.g. earthquake loading) are covered by national standards. However, some other problems are still under investigation and are far beyond everyday engineering practice. In this paper impact of accidentally derailed trains on structure are analysed. The problem of train impact is becoming more important due to increasing velocities of modern trains, as well as due to number of structures close to the railway track, particularly in urban areas. This paper describes two computational models which authors and their co-workers used in extensive researches concerning train impact problems. The main goals of these investigations were: an estimate of the zone endangered by derailed trains; determination of collision forces acting on structures subjected to train impact. The computational modelling of a hypothetical railway accident is divided in two phases:

• motion of a train after derailment
• impact of a derailed train into the structure adjacent to the track.

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