Threats to rail staff rise

Safety across the national rail network improved by 9% last year

Rail staff are increasingly being verbally abused, a safety report has found.

Verbal assaults and threats from disgruntled passengers rose 24% in 2002-03 compared to the previous year, the Rail Safety and Standards Board said in a report released on Wednesday.

"While this figure does not represent an increase in physical injury to staff, it is disappointing that workers are subject to an increasing level of verbal abuse," said the board in its annual safety performance report.

The actual number of reported assaults on staff was more than 3,000, with nearly half the 24% increase coming from non-physical assaults at stations.

In a year which saw the deaths of six people in the Potters Bar rail crash, the board said passenger and workforce safety figures were "disappointing".

However, it was a year of "mixed achievement" as safety on the national rail network improved by 9% compared with 2001-02, it said.

'Catastrophic event'

"This catastrophic event illustrates why the rail industry cannot become complacent and must continue to commit energy and resources to safety improvements," the board said.

"Although Potters Bar casts a shadow over the year, it is clear that safety performance is improving in many areas.

"The challenge facing the industry is to maintain continuous improvement in health and safety in an increasingly difficult investment climate," the board's safety strategy and risk controller, Bill Robinson, said.

While acts of vandalism on the railways reduced last year, there was no change in the number of derailments due to vandalism.

There were more than 11,000 incidents of vandalism on the line, but this was 32% down on the 2001-02 total. Train accidents caused by vandalism reduced 27% to 642.

The greatest reduction was in missiles striking trains.

Other safety statistics from the year included:

• There were 15 accidental deaths of passengers in 2002-03, taking fatalities to 1.87 deaths per 133 million passenger journeys - a figure 19% worse than in 2001-02

• There were 193 major injuries to passengers compared with 209 in 2001-02

• The number of significant train accidents reduced by 20% in 2002-03

• The total number of signals passed at danger fell by 8% to the lowest figure ever

• Five rail workforce staff were killed in 2002-03 compared with four the previous year, but for the second successive year there were no train crew staff fatalities

• There were 89 major injuries to trackside workers - 17% up on 2001-02 and the highest total for nine years

• Trespasser fatalities were down 24%, while the accidental fatality rate at level crossings remained static.