Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)
BTS Home > Publications > National Transportation Statistics > > 2000
Printable Version

Table 2-40. Fatalities and Injuries of On-Duty Railroad Employees

Excel | CSV

  1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Employee fatalities                    
Accidents/incidents, total 40 35 34 47 31 34 33 37 27 31
Grade-crossing accidents and incidents 5 1 2 3 1 2 1 0 4 2
Train accidents and incidents only (grade-crossing excluded) 20 22 23 32 25 27 24 U U U
Employees injured                    
Accidents/incidents, total 20,970 19,626 17,755 15,363 13,080 10,777 9,199 8,295 8,398 8,622
Grade-crossing accidents and incidents 169 147 157 143 126 123 79 111 122 140
Train accidents and incidents only (grade-crossing excluded) 3,282 3,003 2,274 1,832 1,703 1,500 1,303 U U U
Employee hours (millions) N 530.7 517.0 519.7 518.6 510.3 504.6 R503.9 514.9 510.0
Fatality rates per million employee hours                    
All accidents/incidents N 0.07 0.07 0.09 0.06 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.05 0.06
Grade-crossing accidents and incidents N <0.01 <0.01 0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 0.00 0.01 <0.01
Train accidents and incidents only (grade-crossing excluded) N 0.04 0.04 0.06 0.05 0.05 0.05 U U U
Injury rates per million employee hours                    
All accidents/incidents N 37.0 34.3 29.6 25.2 21.1 18.2 16.5 16.3 16.9
Grade-crossing accidents and incidents N 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3
Train accidents and incidents only (grade-crossing excluded) N 5.7 4.4 3.5 3.3 2.9 2.6 U U U
Train-miles (millions)a 609 577 594 614 655 670 671 677 683 712
Fatality rates per million train-miles                    
All accidents/incidents 0.07 0.06 0.06 0.08 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.04 0.04
Grade-crossing accidents and incidents 0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 <0.01 0.00 0.01 <0.01
Train accidents and incidents only (grade-crossing excluded) 0.03 0.04 0.04 0.05 0.04 0.04 0.04 U U U
Injury rates per million train-miles                    
All accidents/incidents 34.4 34.0 29.9 25.0 20.0 16.1 13.7 12.3 12.3 12.1
Grade-crossing accidents and incidents 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2
Train accidents and incidents only (grade-crossing excluded) 5.4 5.2 3.8 3.0 2.6 2.2 1.9 U U U

a Train-miles in this table differ from train-miles in the vehicle-miles table in Chapter 1. Train-miles reported in Chapter 1 include only Class I rail (see glossary for definition), while  this table includes Class I rail, Group II rail, and other rail. In 1999, Group II rail accounted for 75 million train-miles, and other rail for 25 million train-miles. Moreover, the vehicle-miles table in Chapter 1 includes only train-miles between terminals and/or stations, thus excluding yard and switching miles. In 1999, Class I yard/switching train miles totaled 70 million train-miles.
Note that commuter rail safety data are reported in the rail mode and in the transit mode. Commuter rail train-miles are included in Class I rail and Group II rail in this table.
b 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.

KEY: N = data do not exist; U = data are unavailable; R = revised

NOTE: This table includes information for both freight and passenger railroad operations.

SOURCES:
1990-96: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Highway-Rail Crossing Accident/Incident and Inventory Bulletin (Washington, DC: Annual issues).
1997: Ibid. Railroad Safety Statistics Annual Report 1997 (Washington, DC: September 1998), table 1-1, 1-3.
1998-99: Ibid. Internet site http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/Prelim/1999/r01.htm, r02.htm, and r03.htm, as of June 23, 2000.
1999: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety Analysis, personal communications, July 20, 2000.

Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) • U.S. Department of Transportation (US DOT)
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE • Washington, DC 20590 • 800-853-1351 • E-mail RITA

Accessibility | Disclaimer | Fast Lane | FedStats | Freedom of Information Act | No FEAR Act | OIG Hotline | Privacy Policy | RSS | USA.gov | White House | Wireless

Plug-ins: PDF Reader | Flash Player | Excel Viewer | PowerPoint Viewer | Word Viewer | WinZip

RITA's privacy policies and procedures do not necessarily apply to external web sites. We suggest contacting these sites directly for information on their data collection and distribution policies.