Friday, July 13, 2012

American railroad passenger injury and fatality rates since 1976

From the previously mentioned FRA data:



Year
Passenger Fatalities
Passenger Injuries
Passenger Ridership (millions)
Million Passenger Miles
Million Passenger miles per fatality
Million Passenger miles per injury







1976
5
998
124.2
5601
1120
5.6
1977
4
503
179.2
8078
2020
16.1
1978
13
1252
176.5
6836
525.85
5.46
1979
6
1001
308.5
11663
1943.8
11.7
1980
4
593
317.6
11871
2968
20.0
1981
4
409
300.8
11815
2954
28.9
1982
9
387
285.1
10603
1178.1
27.4
1983
4
502
291.9
14151
3538
28.2
1984
12
1000
309.6
10829
902.42
11
1985
3
657
338.2
10909
3636.3
16.6
1986
4
686
333.7
11421
2855
16.6
1987
16
475
336.4
12108
757
25.5
1988
2
337
369.5
12620
6310
37.4
1989
8
399
375.9
13600
1700
34.1
1990
3
473
373.0
13665
4555
28.9
1991
8
382
369.1
14004
1751
36.7
1992
3
411
366.9
13764
4588
33.5
1993
58
559
371.6
13777
237.53
24.6
1994
5
497
393.6
14046
2809
28
1995
0
573
385.8
13719
0
23.9
1996
12
513
397.4
13587
1132
26.5
1997
6
601
408.6
14134
2355.7
23.5
1998
4
535
440.0
14596
3649
27.3
1999
14
481
464.9
14857
1061.2
30.9
2000
4
658
501.8
16142
4036
25
2001
3
746
517.2
15657
5219
21.0
2002
7
877
503.9
15167
2166.7
17.3
2003
3
727
494.3
15562
5187.3
21.4
2004
3
703
513.3
15395
5131.7
21.9
2005
16
957
523.4
15779
986
16.5
2006
2
936
602.3
16961
8481
18.1
2007
5
1514
644.6
18864
3773
12.5
2008
24
1329
664.8
19972
832.17
15.0
2009
3
1201
640.8
19204
6401.3
16.0
2010
3
1365
637.8
19805
6601.7
14.5
2011
6
1489
654.1
20242
3373.7
14
Total
286
26726
14916.3
501004
1751.76
18.7

Do note that there is some screwiness in places (for instance, the jump in ridership between 1978 and 1979). Reporting definitions and requirements may also differ between the US and other nations, so keep that in mind for comparisons.

Update July 16: Courtesy of John Stolberg, a pair of graphs showing the five year average injury and fatality rates. As noted previously, the risk of injury seems to be increasing, but fatalities are steady.




4 comments:

  1. Might you know why the FRA reports only 6 fatalities for Caltrain (Peninsular Commuter) when other sources say 16?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Where does it say only 6? I pulled a ten year report, 2003-2012, it reports 17 deaths so far, all of them trespassers or grade crossings, none of them passengers or employees.

      Delete
    2. Sorry, I meant for one year: 2011 Jan - Dec. Wikipedia says 16 (from SJ Mercury News, supposedly), that FRA link you posted says 6.

      How do you generate a 10 year report? The form only lets me select one year.

      Delete
    3. Sorry, have to go back to the main page for that department to do it.

      Don't know why there's the discrepancy, but I'd trust the FRA over the newspaper.

      Delete

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