Between 2010 and 2019, the number of significant railway accidents in the EU fell by 32% to 1 516 accidents, 713 fewer than in 2010.
A total of 802 persons were killed and 612 persons seriously injured in these accidents in 2019 (not including suicides), with both numbers generally falling since 2010.
The most common type of accident involved unauthorised persons on the railway tracks that were hit by a train. In 2019, 795 such accidents were recorded, representing more than half (52.4%) of the total number of accidents.
The other main category was accidents at level crossings, including accidents involving pedestrians. With 432 accidents, this category made up 28.5% of the total accidents in 2019.
Source dataset: tran_sf_railac
For more information, see the Statistics Explained article Railway safety statistics in the EU.
Note: The European Union (EU) includes 27 EU Member States. The United Kingdom left the European Union on 31 January 2020. Further information is published here.
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