Fewer rail accidents and deaths in Czech republic
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The Czech Rail Authority reports a decline in both serious rail accidents and fatalities in recent years.
In 2021, there were 112 major accidents, but last year the authority recorded 69. The number of deaths on the railways is also decreasing, largely due to a reduction in suicides. The Rail Authority bases its figures on a European methodology, allowing the European Railway Agency to analyze rail systems across the continent.
However, this methodology is narrower than the Czech Rail Inspection’s data, which also includes incidents like collisions with people on the tracks or accidents in workshops. The Inspection recorded 1065 incidents last year, resulting in 227 deaths, a significantly higher number than the Authority's 24 fatalities. Despite the overall improvement, railway crossings and trains running through stop signals remain safety concerns. Last year, 146 collisions occurred at level crossings, and 178 instances of trains passing stop signals were recorded.
Authorities are addressing these issues through prevention campaigns, modernizing crossings, and improving the training of train operators, including the implementation of the ETCS system on more railway lines. The campaign Nááádech, výýýdech provides support to people in crisis and includes installing helpline numbers near railway tracks.
