Railway fatalities on the rise in Sweden
TT/The Local/og - [email protected]
Published: 1 Aug, 2014 CET.
Updated: Fri 1 Aug 2014 13:08 CET
Even though Sweden's Traffic Agency has drastic plans to reduce the number of people killed by trains in Sweden, a new report shows that figures are on the rise.
Sweden's Traffic Agency (Trafikverket) has previously announced plans to halve the number of railroad fatalities by 2020, but statistics are on the rise. While 96 people were killed by passing trains in 2012, the number shot to 109 last year and there have already been 50 fatalities so far in 2014. Ninety percent of the deaths occur when an individual person gets hit while they're on the tracks, many of which are believed to be suicides. The agency plans to reduce statistics by a stronger presence of security cameras. "Our goal is that no one dies on our railways," Maria Hedqvist, case officer at the agency, told the TT news agency. She added that the agency would install more cameras in areas where people have died previously, and build more fences to prevent people from accessing the tracks. Train driver Lennart Jansson, meanwhile, said that accidents are hard to prevent. "It's mostly in the cities that Trafikverket is setting up fences and cameras, but the tracks are wide open out in the countryside. I understand they're doing what they can, but this is a real problem," he said.
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Sweden's Traffic Agency (Trafikverket) has previously announced plans to halve the number of railroad fatalities by 2020, but statistics are on the rise.
While 96 people were killed by passing trains in 2012, the number shot to 109 last year and there have already been 50 fatalities so far in 2014.
Ninety percent of the deaths occur when an individual person gets hit while they're on the tracks, many of which are believed to be suicides.
The agency plans to reduce statistics by a stronger presence of security cameras.
"Our goal is that no one dies on our railways," Maria Hedqvist, case officer at the agency, told the TT news agency.
She added that the agency would install more cameras in areas where people have died previously, and build more fences to prevent people from accessing the tracks.
Train driver Lennart Jansson, meanwhile, said that accidents are hard to prevent.
"It's mostly in the cities that Trafikverket is setting up fences and cameras, but the tracks are wide open out in the countryside. I understand they're doing what they can, but this is a real problem," he said.
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