79 Railway Accidents Last Year... Death Toll Rises to 28

Railway Accidents Increase by 23% in One Year

Last year, the number of railway accidents nationwide increased, resulting in a larger scale of casualties, according to an investigation.

According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's National Transportation Safety Implementation Plan report and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority's Railway Safety Annual Report on the 10th, there were a total of 79 railway accidents last year, an increase of 15 cases (23.4%) compared to the previous year.

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By type of railway accident, 'railway traffic casualty accidents,' such as people being hit by running trains, were the most frequent with 34 cases. This is 14 more cases than in 2021. Next, 'collision, derailment, and train fire accidents' numbered 20, an increase of 3 cases from the previous year, and 'railway crossing accidents' occurred 13 times, 6 more than the year before. 'Railway safety accidents,' which include fires in stations and accidents in railway facilities such as waiting rooms and platforms, occurred 12 times last year, decreasing by 8 cases compared to the previous year.

Due to the increased railway accidents, the number of deaths and injuries also rose from 41 in 2021 to 68 last year, an increase of 27 (65.9%). The number of fatalities in railway accidents last year was 28, 7 more than the 21 in 2021. Among these, 15 people lost their lives due to extreme actions such as jumping onto the tracks. Accordingly, the number of deaths per 100 million kilometers of train operation increased from 8.2 in 2021 to 10.9 last year.

By railway type, accidents occurred most frequently on general railways such as Saemaeul and Mugunghwa trains, with 45 cases (57%). This was followed by 26 cases (33%) on urban railways such as subways, and 8 cases (10%) on high-speed railways such as KTX.

By railway operating institution, 67 cases (84.8%) were concentrated in Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), which has the highest number of train operations. The rest were 5 cases at Seoul Metro, 2 cases each at Daegu Metropolitan Transit Corporation and Airport Railroad, and 1 case each at Busan Transportation Corporation, Daejeon Metropolitan Express Transit Corporation, and Seoul Metro Line 9.

Over the past five years (2018?2022), a total of 371 railway accidents occurred, with 98 cases in 2018, 72 in 2019, and 58 in 2020, followed by an increase to 64 in 2021 and 79 last year.

The number of deaths and injuries also decreased for three consecutive years from 94 in 2018 to 58 in 2019, 51 in 2020, and 41 in 2021, before rising again last year.

Regarding this, the Korea Transportation Safety Authority stated, "Although the scope of railway accidents expanded following the revision of the Railway Safety Act Enforcement Rules in October 2020, resulting in an increase in recorded accidents, even when calculated by the pre-revision standards, last year's accidents increased compared to 2021, indicating a deterioration in the indicators."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.