In 2023, there were 1,567 serious railway accidents in the European Union, killing 841 people. The most in Poland, 159 – according to Eurostat data. In second place were Germany and Romania.
More than half (58%) of fatalities in rail accidents in the EU involved unauthorized persons who found themselves on the tracks, for example because they were crossing in an unmarked place. The second largest group (27%) concerned railway crossing users, including drivers who entered the crossing despite signals about an approaching train.
In Poland, 114 deaths involved people who trespassed on the tracks, 39 people died at crossings, three were railway employees, one was a train passenger. The causes of death of two people were not given.
Fatalities and seriously injured
They were placed behind Poland Germany with 129 fatal accidents on tracks i Romaniawhere 77 people died in this way.
These statistics look different when the number of fatalities in relation to the length of the railway network (per 1,000 km) is taken into account. Then they are in the lead Greece, Slovakia and Portugal. Poland ranks fourth.
Fatalities per 1,000 km of railway lineEurostat
The most seriously injured people in railway accidents were in Germany (117 people), Poland (62 people) and Romania (60 people).
Second year with growth
Data published by Eurostat on Friday show that 2023 was the second year after 2022 to record an increase in the number of deaths on tracks. Previously, especially in 2010-2021, a downward trend was observed, and the number of deaths in railway accidents was almost halved.
For the years 2019-2021, this decline is explained by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to a sharp reduction in passenger transport in the EU and therefore the number of rail accidents.
Main photo source: PAP/Tomasz Wojtasik