30.03.12
EU rail safety improving
Safety performance is improving on EU railways, new statistics show, as the number of significant rail accidents dropped by 20% compared to the previous year.
The European Railway Agency has published its fifth report highlighting safety on the network. Member states reported 2,401 significant rail accidents overall and 2,500 casualties in 2010. The number of significant rail accidents fell, but there was little improvement in the number of collisions and derailments.
According to the common safety indicator (CSI) data provided by the national safety authorities, 1,256 people were killed on the railway with 1,236 seriously injured in 2010. 60% of those killed were third party victims; unauthorised people on railway premises.
Single fatality accidents such as unauthorised persons being hit by rolling stock in motion or certain level-crossing accidents, form the major part of the fatalities. Train collisions, derailments and fires cause less than 3% of the fatalities. Suicides are counted separately from other railway fatalities and over 2,743 were recorded in 2010.
Since 2006, the European Railway Agency has been collecting railway safety data in the form of common safety indicators that were introduced by the Annex I of the Railway Safety Directive in 2004. Member States have a legal obligation to submit their CSI data for the preceding year to the Agency no later than on 30 September. The Agency first publishes the basic set of CSI data in November on its website, and later the full set of CSI data is published in the Railway safety performance report published in spring of the following year.
For more information, visit:
www.era.europa.eu/Document-Register/Documents/SafetyReport2012.pdf
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