Safety on Britain´s railways 1967-2004

This paper considers three aspects of railway safety: fatal railway accidents and fatalities in Great Britain in 2004 and trends in these from 1967; major train accidents in Western Europe; and the overall risks of rail journeys, including the risks of the journey stages getting to and from railway stations. Among the principal conclusions are that railway safety has improved greatly over the past three decades, although collisions between trains and road vehicles and fatalities to members of the public have improved least. The frequency of major train accidents in Europe has declined at a rate similar to that of all train collisions and derailments in Britain. Main line rail journeys in Britain include an average of 0.9 km of walking to and from stations, and walking in association with such journeys accounts for about 5% of all walking nationally. Because walking is a relatively high-risk transport mode and rail travel is a relatively low risk mode, the proportions of the overall fatality risk to rail travellers are 21% on the rail system itself, 65% in walking to and from stations, and 14% on other access modes.