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U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Table 2-43: Railroad System Safety and Property Damage Data (Excludes highway-rail grade-crossing accidents)

Friday, July 22, 2016

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  1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 (R) 2010 (R) 2011 (R) 2012 (R) 2013 2014
Fatalities 785 575 584 454 599 567 551 602 577 530 512 550 594 531 520 525 534 512 514 447 473 436 443 468 505
Injured personsa 17,934 50,138 58,696 31,617 22,736 12,546 10,948 10,227 10,156 10,304 10,424 9,828 10,104 8,229 8,100 8,497 7,727 8,610 8,072 7,280 7,491 7,374 7,468 7,733 7,763
Accidentsb 8,095 8,041 8,205 3,275 2,879 2,459 2,443 2,397 2,575 2,768 2,983 3,023 2,738 3,019 3,385 3,266 2,998 2,693 2,481 1,912 1,902 2,028 1,765 1,849 1,828
Train-miles (millions)c,d 839 755 718 571 609 670 671 677 683 712 723 712 729 743 770 789 814 794 774 (R) 668 705 718 732 749 766
Rate per 100 million train-miles                                                  
Fatalities 94 76 81 80 98 85 82 89 84 74 71 77 82 71 68 67 66 65 66 (R) 67 67 61 61 63 66
Injuries N 6,641 8,179 5,538 3,735 1,873 1,632 1,511 1,487 1,446 1,442 1,381 1,387 1,107 1,052 1,077 950 1,085 1,043 (R) 1,090 1,063 1,028 1,021 1,033 1,013
Accidents 965 1,065 1,143 574 473 367 364 354 377 389 413 425 376 406 440 414 368 339 321 (R) 286 270 283 241 247 239
Property damage (current $ millions) 121.6 177.4 267.4 179.3 198.7 189.2 212.3 210.7 233.9 245.1 263.2 314.5 266.5 298.3 325.9 339.9 322.6 316.6 300.9 227.8 253.4 270.1 225.6 313.9 270.0

KEY: N = data does not exist; R = revised.

a 1970 injuries are not comparable to later years due to a change in reporting system.

b Train accidents only; excludes highway-rail grade-crossing accidents.

c 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 2005, Group II rail accounted for 78 million Train-miles, and other rail for 29 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 2009, Class I yard/switching Train-miles totaled 63 million Train-miles. Note that commuter rail safety data are reported in the rail mode and the transit mode. Commuter rail Train-miles are included in Class I rail and Group II rail in this table.

d 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.

NOTE

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

SOURCES

Fatalities, injuries, accidents, and train-miles:

1970-90: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Policy and Program Development, Accident/Incident Bulletin (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), tables 14 and 15.

1995-99: Ibid., Railroad Safety Statistics Annual Report 2000 (Washington, DC: July 2001), tables 1-1 and 3-1, available at http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/publicsite/Publications.aspx as of Sep. 7, 2010.

2000: Ibid., tables 1.06 and 3.09, available at http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/ as of Sept. 7, 2010.

2001: Ibid., tables 1.06 and 3.09, available at http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/ as of Jun. 10, 2011.

2002: Ibid., tables 1.06 and 3.09, available at http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/ as of Apr. 24, 2012.

2003-14: Ibid., tables 1.12, available at http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/ as of May 20, 2016.

Property damage:

1970-90: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, National Transit Database (Washington, DC: Annual Issues), form 406.

1995-99: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, available at http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/Forms/Default.asp as of Aug. 22, 2002.

1999-2000: Ibid., table 1.06, available at http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/ as of Sep. 7, 2010.

2001: Ibid., table 1.06, available at http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/ as of Jun. 10, 2011.

2002: Ibid., table 1.06, available at http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/ as of Apr. 24, 2012.

2003-14: Ibid., table 3.16, available at http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/ as of May 20, 2016.