Railways are worryingly dangerous! We know that roads are also dangerous, but how many rail movements per capita in New Zealand compared to rail? Which is relatively more dangerous? What is the same figure for coastal shipping?
Another person was killed by a train this morning in Wellington.
The last study on the serious issue of rail safety seems to be a couple of years old, but the statistics are worrying.
ACCIDENTS ON NEW ZEALAND’S RAILWAYS
1998–2004 BY ACCIDENT TYPE
Accident type Fatal Serious Minor Total Average
Level crossing 55 30 53 138 20
Trespass and
vandalism 86 20 59 165 24
Rail operations
accidents 11 39 131 181 26
Total 152 89 243 484 70
