HL Deb 16 December 2003 vol 655 cc145-6WA
Lord Hodgson of Astley Abbotts

asked Her Majesty's Government: How many rail passenger fatalities; there were in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available. [HL350]

Lord Davies of Oldham

Details of the numbers of passenger fatalities on Britain's railways in the 10 years 1993–94 to 2002–03 provided by the Health and Safety Executive's Railway Inspectorate are set out in the table below:

Year National Rail London Underground Trams Other railways Total
1993–94 11 6 17
1994–95 12 5 17
1995–96 9 2 11
1996–97 10 7 17
1997–98 20 5 1 26
1998–99 19 1 20
1999–2000 40 7 47
2000–01 17 4 21
2001–02 9 4 13
2002–03 18 5 23

Notes

Trams are the tram systems of Blackpool, Croydon, Manchester, Sheffield and the West Midlands.

Other railways include Docklands Light Railway, Tyne and Wear Metro, Glasgow Underground, Channel Tunnel and Heritage railways.

The above data were collated under accident reporting legislation, reported by railways and tramways in Great Britain to HM Railway Inspectorate. The data include fatalities in train accidents (collisions, derailments, etc), fatalities involving a moving train (falls from train doors, falling off platforms in front of trains) and fatalities not involving trains but occuring on railway infrastructure (slips, trips and falls on platforms, falls on escalators etc).

Further information on passenger fatalities can be found in the Health and Safety Executive's and the Chief Inspector of Railways' annual reports on railway safety, copies of which are held in both House Libraries.