ORR’s analysis found that Britain ranks first for ‘whole society’ safety risk, which combines the overall average of number fatalities and serious injuries across five risk categories for passenger, employee, level crossing user, trespasser, and other risks.
For passenger safety risk, ORR reports that Britain ranks eighth overall but performs favourably in comparison to other European countries against similarly large railway networks.
For employee safety risk, Britain is third when compared to other European countries. The only countries with a lower average number were Ireland and Finland, which have considerably smaller rail networks.
Britain was also third for level crossing user safety risk; the only countries with a lower average number were Ireland and Switzerland.
For trespasser safety risk, Britain is fourth compared with other European countries behind Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Slovenia.
The rail regulator’s report assessed safety performance of Britain’s mainline railway and the achievement of safety targets and concluded there was acceptable safety performance in 2020.
ORR’s HM Chief Inspector of Railways, Ian Prosser CBE said:
Notes to Editors
- ORR’s report assesses safety performance of Great Britain’s mainline railway and the achievement of safety targets for the calendar year 2020. Prior to the UK leaving the European Union (EU), this assessment was conducted by the European Union Agency for Railways (ERA).
- This uses Common Safety Indicator data to assess the level of safety associated with six risk categories:
- Passengers
- Employees
- Level crossing users
- Others
- Trespassers
- Whole society (collective risk to all categories of persons above)