The International Union of Railways (UIC) 2014 annual report has revealed that the number of railway fatalities had increased on European railway networks in 2013.
According to the report, 9% of the victims were passengers, 3% were staff and the remaining 88% were mostly trespassers.
In 2013, a total of 1,074 deaths occurred compared with 1,011 deaths in 2012, where the number of passenger deaths increased to 96 from 32 last year.
The margin of trespasser-related deaths also increased up to 643 from 595 incidents in 2012.
However, incidents in the level crossing have decreased this year, witnessed only 279 deaths compared with the 329 level-crossing deaths. The number of staff-related deaths also declined to 27 from 47 recorded in 2012.
During the last five years, the highest number of fatalities occurred in 2009, in which a total of 1,348 people died in railway accidents.
The UIC Safety Database has been monitoring the European railway networks through collecting data since 2001.
According to the report, a total of 4.1 billion train-km were operated on the networks in 2013, which includes the transportation of 7.2 billion passenger and 900 million tons of freight.
With this database, UIC aims to create an inventory of information containing accident statistics and comprehensive details on causes, circumstances and consequences of accidents.
UIC consists of 202 members across all five continents and it aims to promote rail transport at world level and meet the challenges of mobility and sustainable development.
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