BTS | Table 2-38: Railroad Passenger Safety Data

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Table 2-38: Railroad Passenger Safety Data

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	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Passenger fatalities^a	3	8	3	58	5	0	12	6	4	14	4	3	7	3	3	16	2	4
Injured persons	473	382	411	559	497	573	513	601	535	481	658	746	877	(R) 726	679	(R) 935	761	938
Train-miles, passenger trains (millions)	72	74	74	75	75	76	77	78	78	82	84	88	90	89	89	90	92	95
Fatalities per 100 million passenger train-miles	4	11	4	77	7	0	16	8	5	17	5	3	8	3	3	18	2	4
Injuries per 100 million passenger train-miles	(R) 657	(R) 516	(R) 555	(R) 745	(R) 663	(R) 754	(R) 666	770	683	584	781	850	979	(R) 812	760	(R) 1,040	828	990

KEY: R = revised.

^a In 1993 a barge struck a rail bridge in Alabama causing an Amtrak train to derail into the waterway below leading to 42 passenger deaths.

NOTE

A train-mile is the movement of a train (which can consist of many cars) the distance of 1 mile. A train-mile differs from a vehicle-mile, which is the movement of 1 car (vehicle) the distance of 1 mile. A 10-car (vehicle) train traveling 1 mile would be measured as 1 train-mile and 10 vehicle-miles. Caution should be used when comparing train-miles to vehicle miles.

SOURCES

Fatalities and injuries:

1990-2001: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety, Railroad Safety Statistics Annual Report 2001 (Washington, DC: August 2002), table 1-2.

2002-07: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety, Railroad Safety Statistics Annual Report (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table 1-2.

Train-miles, passenger trains:

1990-96: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics calculations (sum of all commuter rail train-miles reported to USDOT, Federal Transit Administration, plus Amtrak train-miles).

1997-2001: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety, Railroad Safety Statistics Annual Report 2001 (Washington, DC: August 2002), table 2-4.

2002: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety, Railroad Safety Statistics Annual Report 2002 (Washington, DC: March 2004), table 2-4.

2003-04: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety, Railroad Safety Statistics Annual Report 2003 (Washington, DC: October 2005), table 2-4.

2005-07: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety, Railroad Safety Statistics Annual Report (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), table 2-4.