TRAVELLING by train is much safer than on the roads, according to accident figures released today.
There has not been a single fatality on the railways for the sixth year in a row.
More have died in six hours on the road than in six years on the railways.
On North East Lincolnshire's roads in 2012 there were five fatalities and 75 casualties seriously injured.
A total of 667 suffered slight injuries.
The overall total is up nine on the previous year.
Rail campaigners said the figures proved the point that rail is safer.
Bruce Williamson of the pressure group Railfuture said: "We congratulate the railway industry and its staff for continuing to run a safe railway for passengers.
"There have only been two fatal accidents in the last ten years, the Grayrigg derailment in 2007 in which one person died, and at Ufton Nervet in 2004. That one was caused by a suicidal motorist who parked his car on a level crossing waiting for a train to kill him – hardly the railway's fault. In other words, in ten years the rail industry has been responsible for just one passenger fatality – an astonishing and unprecedented run of safety. Of course, one death is one too many, and there is no room for complacency, but it does illustrate how spectacularly safe rail travel is".
He added: "There has not been a single fatal accident caused by a train driver since Ladbroke Grove in 1999 – because of better training, tougher recruitment standards for drivers and a new track safety system installed nationwide after Ladbroke Grove."
