WHAT ARE TRAINS?
A passenger train may consist of a combination of one or several locomotives, as well as attached railroad-cars, coaches, or a self-propelled, multiple-unit. The number of U.S. citizens who ride the train every day runs into millions. ARE THERE ANY MAJOR RISKS POSED BY TRAVELING ON RAILROADS/RAILWAYS? Figures released into the public domain by the Office of Safety Analysis of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) demonstrate that, on average, there are around 3,000 railroad/railway accidents per annum, and that around 1,000 citizens lose their lives as a direct consequence of these events. In the period from January 1 to December 31, 2007 – states the FRA – there were 13,187 railroad/railway accidents, of which 6.04% resulted in fatalities, which was a total of almost 800. Nearly 9,000 injuries occurred in the same time period. In the period January – May 2008, nearly 5,000 railroad/railway accidents occurred, and which resulted in more than 300 deaths and more than 3,000 injuries.
