Railway safety performance in the European Union

Similarly, as in previous years, a number of NSAs have reported changes in their reporting procedures or the definitions
applied in the data collection. These are reflected in several figures such as Figure 5. For serious injuries, the reported
numbers of injured passengers and unauthorised persons for the period from 2007 to 2009 show large variations beyond
what might be expected from natural fluctuation.
Over the period 2007–2009 there were four seriously injured passengers per one killed passenger while the numbers of
all seriously and fatally injured persons were on equal level. At the same time, there were two fatally injured unauthorised
persons per one seriously injured person in the same category of victims. This reflects the vulnerability of persons when
hit by a train, on the one hand, and the difference in the chance of survival for passengers and trespassers on the other
hand.
The slight decrease in the number of victims in recent years, rail passengers in particular, is promising. The corresponding
risk level for passengers in terms of victims per passenger-km has been decreasing at the same pace, as the volume of
passengers has not changed over time.
Suicides
Suicides are reported separately from accident fatalities. Suicides represent 66 % of all fatalities and, together with the
unauthorised person fatalities, constitute 72 % of all fatalities occurring within the railway system. No trend can be
derived from the available data, but as it appears, the number of suicides registered in 2009 is the highest value reported
to the Agency (Figure 6).
The Member States use different methods for establishing whether a fatality is a suicide or not. The revised Annex 1 and
its guidance will lead to a more harmonised approach to classifying suicides.
4 500
4 000
Figure 6. Suicides and other fatalities (2007–2009)
3 500
3 000
1 519
1 480
1 391
2 500
2 000
1 500
1 000
2 630
2 429
2 719
500
0
2007 2008 2009
• Suicides
•
Other persons
20