In 2003 a further 273 people suffered major injuries, which is an increase of 11% on the figure for 2002 (243). 201 of these major injuries involved passengers, and the majority of them (186) took place on the station or platform. Over half of the major injuries result from slips, trips and falls or accidents using the stairs.

• Major injuries involving trains usually take place when passengers are getting on or off a train (32 of the 70 major injuries involving a train happened when passengers were alighting from a train).

• Although there were more serious accidents in 2003, fewer of them resulted in a fatality.
• There were 615 near misses on the railway lines in 2002/03, 323 of these involved children under 15 years of age. Near misses could easily be fatalities and considering the number of these that are children, the number of children killed or seriously injured on the railways could be a lot greater than they are.
• Railways are the second safest form of land travel in Great Britain (after buses and coaches) for passengers. The number of people accidentally killed on the railways (both children and adults) would be much smaller if people did not use the railway as a playground or footpath. 82% of those killed should not have been on or near the railway at the time of the accident.

One last thing to remember...

Fences are put up around railways and railway lines to protect members of the public by keeping them off the railway.

Get a life, don’t lose it. Keep off the railway.