Public transport: Still many accidents on construction sites compared to Europe

The number of serious accidents and serious injuries in public transport decreased again in 2020 after a temporary increase in 2019. This is shown by the FOT Safety Report 2020 out. A total of 178 serious accidents were reported to the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) last year. Twenty-seven people were killed and 122 seriously injured. Among the fatalities are three passengers who were traveling on public transport. 14 people died because they were unauthorized on rail facilities, eight people lost their lives in accidents involving public transport vehicles and two employees of transport companies died.

Many accidents on construction sites compared to Europe

With the "lockdown" from March to May 2020 ordered by the Federal Council to combat the Corona pandemic, public transport was severely thinned out. Accordingly, the number of passengers and the kilometers they traveled dropped significantly. After the "lockdown," they increased again, but remained below the levels of recent years. It is difficult to estimate the impact on safety. Accident figures might have been higher without the corona-related restrictions last year.

However, a considerable proportion of accidents on public transport are caused irrespective of the number of people on board, for example when signals are not heeded. Compared with other countries in Europe, Switzerland performs very well overall in terms of rail safety, ranking second overall. One exception is occupational accidents, especially on construction sites. Here, Switzerland still lags behind in a European comparison. This is partly due to the fact that in Switzerland, operations continue during construction and renovation work. To improve the situation, the FOT continues to focus on safety supervision in this area.

Source: Federal Office of Transport