The number of railway accidents and deaths across the European Union has gone down in recent years although hundreds still die and hundreds of others are seriously injured every year across the 28-member bloc.
Most of the railway accidents occurred in Germany, Poland, Hungary and Romania in 2018, Eurostat reported Wednesday
It said there were 1,721 serious train crashes in 2018, the latest available figures, which is one-quarter less than in in 2010.
At the EU level, the number of fatalities in railway accidents decreased from 1,270 in 2010 to 885 in 2018. Almost 800 people were seriously injured in railway accidents in 2018.
The most common type of accident involved are unauthorized people on railway tracks. In 2018, there were almost 1,000 of accidents of this kind, representing 57% of the total.
The other main category was accidents at level crossings, some involving pedestrians. Those accidents accounted for one-quarter of all accidents in 2018.
Germany reported the most train-related accidents, a total of 302, followed by Poland, which had 275, Hungary, 162 and Romania reported 132.
The least accidents were in Luxembourg which had just two, followed by Ireland where there were six.
Suicides occurring on the railways are reported separately. There were 2,637 reported cases in 2018, outnumbering the victims accounted for by railway accidents.
