UIC Safety Report 2019 - Significant Accidents 2018 - Public Report

Number of significant accidents

The number of significant accidents declared by established members in 2018 (1746) is somewhat lower than the three previous years (1776, 1846 and 1788). This means a consolidation of the general improvement of railway safety over the past 10 years. Although networks have different sizes and numbers of accidents differ between countries, the overall picture that we see among the established members compared to the new member is comparable.

Number of fatalities

21 more fatalities were recorded in 2018 than in the previous year for the established members. Regarding the types of accidents the railway sector can influence most directly (train collisions, derailments, fires and shunting operations), we observe 29 fatalities in 2017 and 53 in 2016. This difference of 24 fatalities was the result of three major accidents: a train derailment in Italy (3 fatalities and 34 serious injuries) and a train derailment in Turkey (25 fatalities and 25 serious injuries), both caused by track deformation and a train collision with a tractor and trailer on a level crossing (2 fatalities and 20 serious injuries), caused by the slow movement of the tractor.

Individuals hit by train in stations

This year's special topic reveals two remarkable observations apart from the fact that since 2013 we see no upward or downward trend. We do see that there are more accidents recorded in the last quarter of the year, in the later evening hours and on the weekends.

UIC Global Safety index (all railways but RZD)

The UIC Global Safety Index is actually a weighted number of accidents, whereby passenger and staff victims and internal causes are weighted more heavily than trespasser victims and external causes. In addition, a higher number of victims is weighted more heavily than a lower number. The decrease in the index from 2013 to 2015 is followed by three level years. 2018 seems to be picking the long term improvement of general safety level.