Factsheets - No.10: Rail Safety
Rail and Road Safety Facts
- The railways are a very safe form of transport, particularly when compared to travel on roads, which carry approximately 90% of all traffic.
- Fatal accidents on the railways due to Signals Passed at Danger (SPADs) occur on average about once every two years.
- The average number of fatalities per rail accident due to SPADs is 4.
- Therefore, eliminating SPADs could prevent about 2 deaths per year on the railways.
- There were 3,431 road user deaths in 2002, of which 1,747 were car users and 775 were pedestrians.
- Train Protection Warning System (TPWS) is expected to prevent approximately 69% of ATP preventable SPAD risk.
- Improved driver training and working practices can make further reductions in SPADs.
The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS)
- The European Rail Traffic Management System (ERTMS) was recommended for installation across the UK network by the end of the decade by the Uff/Cullen Report in 2001 as a means of eliminating SPADs.
- ERTMS can be implemented at several different levels:
- Level 1 is the simplest and the most readily available variant, but requires more trackside equipment than any variant of Level 2 and is estimated to reduce capacity by10%;
- Level 2 requires the development of new computer systems and electronic interlockings that most of the current rail network lacks. This is estimated to improve capacity by up to 10%, depending on the variant adopted (see below) and the characteristics of each route; and
- Level 3 requires more complex software than Level 2 and is not currently offered by the suppliers. This form of ERTMS is estimated to improve capacity by between 10 and 15%.
- Following the Uff/Cullen Report, the Government and SRA were initially committed to the delivery of ERTMS Level 1.
- Following detailed analysis of the benefits, ERTMS Level 2 is now the preferred option, costing an estimated £3.7bn (including £2.58bn in capital expenditure).
Issues Surrounding the Introduction of ERTMS Level 2
- ERTMS Level 2 offers performance benefits that result form enhanced capacity, supporting the UK transport vision of rapid passenger growth over the next decade.
- ERTMS Level 2 is relatively good value for money on safety grounds and is a cost effective way of increasing rail capacity.
- There are significant phasing issues associated with the introduction of ERTMS Level 2. It will generally be implemented to coincide with signalling upgrades, to reduce passenger service disruption and the cost of the scheme (exceptions are the West Coast, East Coast and Great western mainlines that will have ERTMS installed early in the implementation period).
- Now that TPWS has been installed across the rail network, the number of rail fatalities that would be saved by introducing ERTMS is very small, estimated at 0.65 fatalities per year.
- The introduction of TPWS is expected to have reduced the frequency of fatal SPAD accidents form one every two years to one every six years.
- TPWS+ is being considered in addition to TPWS. This will provide greater train protection for trains travelling over 70mph. Although ERTMS will supersede TPWS, it is worth introducing TPWS+ in the interim, as the implementation period for ERTMS will be protracted, due to phasing issues outlined above.
- The capacity increases resulting from the introduction of ERTMS Level 2 will encourage the transfer of trips from road to rail, resulting in lives saved, as rail travel is safer than road travel.
- Based on a 7.5% increase in rail capacity provided by ERTMS Level 2, approximately 600 million road vehicle kilometres would be expected to transfer to rail each year.
- This would reduce the number of road fatalities by approximately 4 per year.
- ERTMS Level 2 is estimated to reduce trackworker deaths by 0.5 per year.
- The introduction of ERTMS Level 2 could therefore reduce annual road and rail fatalities by up to 5 per year, once fully implemented across the network.
Rail Safety Benefits from Alternative Investment
- The replacement of old Mark 1 rolling stock will provide substantial safety benefits, comparable to ERTMS Level 2, due to increased crashworthiness of newer rolling stock, and by preventing accidents caused by train doors opening while trains are still moving.
- Safety benefits from future rolling stock upgrades will be lower.
- Safety benefits could be obtained through investment in new high-speed rail lines, or in existing rail line capacity upgrades. This would promote modal transfer from road to rail, and would allow fast and slow trains to be separated operationally.
- Safety benefits from automatic platform screen doors as used on the Jubilee line would be prohibitively expensive on the mainline railway, with economic and operational issues making them generally unviable. There may, however, be instances when they may be appropriate.
- Safety benefits could not be gained by introducing 'soft' measures such as better signage and warnings at level crossings and at stations.
- Investment in road safety measures would initially provide much higher marginal safety benefits than rail investment, but this differential would reduce as road safety investment continued, and the cost of preventing accidents continued.
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