Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The New Zealand Railways Magazine, Volume 1, Issue 2 (June, 1926)

Safety On Railways

Safety On Railways

A recent press message disclosed the interesting fact that but one passenger was killed in a train accident in Great Britain last year. And even this fatality was not directly due to the train accident as subsequent evidence proved. It is a wonderful record, yet (according to the “Railway Age,” 23/1/26) the statement that it is an unparalleled record is not quite correct, for the railways of Great Britain have done even better than this in former years. In 1901, and again in 1908, they were able to report none killed; and in both cases the records were clear of fatalities under this head for a total period of 15 months. The records before the war included Ireland also. The total number of passengers carried in those years was about 1,500 millions in each twelve months. Added importance attaches to this great record of safe transportation because of the high speeds and the density of traffic which characterise railway operations in Great Britain.

* * *

Following experiments made by the Great Western Railway Company concerning Safety First, the number of accidents in the Company's workshops at Swindon was reduced by 17.5 per cent., and among the permanent-way men over the whole system by 17.3 per cent.