FRA: Fatalities up 12.1% in eight months

The Federal Railroad Administration’s Office of Safety Analysis released preliminary figures Oct. 30 showing 517 fatalities in the first eight months of 2010 compared with 461 in the same period last year, nearly all of them due to grade crossing and trespassing accidents/incidents.

Fatalities at rail-highway grade crossings increased 5.6% to 170 compared with 161 in the January-August period of 2009. Trespasser fatalities were up 15.8% to 322.

The 752 reporting railroads informed the FRA of 14 employee fatalities this year vs. 12 in the 2009 period.

Train accidents resulted in seven deaths in this year’s first eight months compared with three in the year-earlier period.

Collisions were down 5.6% to 95 this year, derailments were down 0.8% to 896, and yard accidents were down 0.4% to 658.