Railway Safety Performance Report 2011
Posted: 10 June 2011 | | No comments yet
The European Railway Agency has published its fourth Annual Report on the development of Railway Safety in the European Union…
The European Railway Agency has published its fourth Annual Report on the development of Railway Safety in the European Union.
According to the reported data, the year 2009 was the safest year on the EU’s railways for both passengers and rail staff since 2006. Railways remain one of the safest modes of transport in the European Union (EU). Yet, some 1 400 people still die on EU railways each year; most of the fatalities are unauthorised persons and level-crossing users.
Trends derived from the common safety indicators (CSIs) indicate an overall improvement in railway safety since 2006. Both the number of people killed and the number of seriously injured persons fell in 2009. According to the CSI data provided by the national safety authorities (NSAs) to the Agency, 1 391 people were killed and 1 114 people were seriously injured in 3 073 railway accidents in 2009. These figures are by far the lowest among figures recorded since 2006.
The majority of fatalities on the EU railways are suicides. Over 2 700 suicides were recorded in 2009; more than seven per day on average. Passenger and employee fatalities make up 5 % of all persons killed on European railways, suicides excluded. The number of level-crossing accidents constitutes a substantial share of the total number of accidents. Member States reported 1 284 level-crossing users killed in a total of 3 063 level-crossing accidents during the three years 2007–2009. There are about 124 000 level crossings in the EU, so that on average there are 4 level crossings in each 10 km section of track. Only 41 % are equipped with either manual or automatic protection systems.
The national investigation bodies (NIBs) notified the Agency of 197 opened investigations of accidents and incidents that occurred during 2010. The Agency also received 210 investigation reports during 2009 covering accidents dating from 2006 and onwards.
Full Report 2011: www.era.europa.eu/Document-Register/Pages/Safety-Performance-Report-2011.aspx
Rail & Public Transport Safety & Security
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