Railroad Passenger Safety Data
Embedded Dataset Excel:
Dataset Excel:
table_02_42_032824.xlsx (26.32 KB)Notes:
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.
Passenger fatalities and Injured persons include passengers on trains only.
Description:
KEY: N = data do not exist; NA = not applicable; R = revised.
a Three major train accidents accounted for the increase in the number of deaths in 1993, 2005, and 2008. Two major train accidents accounted for the increase in the number of injuries in 2007. In 1993 a barge struck a rail bridge in Alabama causing an Amtrak train to derail into the waterway below leading to 42 passenger deaths. In 2005, a Southern California Regional Rail Authority train struck a jeep at a non-grade crossing location, derailed and struck a UPRR locomotive, which caused the train to strike another Southern California Regional Rail Authority train. The total passenger fatalities from both trains were 10. In 2008, a Southern California Regional Rail Authority train ran a red signal and collided head-on with a Union Pacific RR Co. freight, which lead to 24 passenger deaths.
Source:
Fatalities and injuries:
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety Analysis, Overview, table 1.13, Passenger Operations Ten Year Overview, available at http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/default.aspx as of Mar. 12, 2024.
Train-miles, passenger trains:
1990-96: U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation Statistics calculations (sum of all commuter rail train-miles reported to USDOT, Federal Transit Administration, plus Amtrak train-miles).
1997-2023: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Safety Analysis, Overview, table 1.13, Passenger Operations Ten Year Overview, available at http://safetydata.fra.dot.gov/OfficeofSafety/default.aspx as of Mar. 12, 2024.