Cape Town - More than 300 people lost their lives on the country’s rail network in the financial year ending in March.
That was according to Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula and the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) at the release of statistics contained in the State of Safety Report for 2018/2019.
Mbalula said there were 3990 operational incidents on the rail network. “These include derailments, collisions, level crossing accidents and occurrences where people were struck by moving trains,” he said. These resulted in the death of 370 people and injuries to 2660 people.
Mbalula reported that Transnet Freight Rail and Passenger Rail Agency of SA derailments had decreased by 16% during the year under review compared to the previous financial year, and said about 370 derailments were reported during 2018/2019 by the entire rail industry, which resulted in one fatality and 29 injuries.
The majority of people who died were struck by trains.
Minister Fikile Mbalula with the Railway Safety Regulator team releasing the State of Safety Report at Devonvale Wine and Golf Estate in Stellenbosch. Video: Sisonke Mlamla/Cape Argus
The report also identified the main areas of concern and provided input to enable the RSR and operators to develop strategic interventions to address them.
The briefing took place on the sidelines of the Annual Rail Safety Conference at Devonvale Golf and Wine Estate in Stellenbosch.
Mbalula said, while he was delivering statistics: “Let us note that these are, in fact, human lives that are lost in our rail environment. These are breadwinners that are taken from their families, innocent children that are orphaned and commuters who are injured while trying to fend for their families.”
Acting chief executive of the RSR, Tshepo Kgare said the report provided a snapshot of the railways that could be used as a diagnostic tool to locate difficulties and find out what caused them, “with the intention of identifying and implementing safety interventions to improve the safety of railway operations”.
Kgare said the report also provided an analysis of harm to persons, inclusive of the public, passengers and the workforce which was expressed as fatalities and weighted injuries (FWIs).
“This equivalent measure is calculated using a formula which equates 10 injuries, regardless of the seriousness of the injury, to one fatality.”
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