The Dutch railways are one of the safest in Europe, but there is still room for improvement. In 2019, 25 major accidents took place, killing 11 people. Level crossings remain the weakest link in the rail network. Last year, 14 accidents occurred at level crossings, with 9 fatalities, 3 serious injuries and 13 slightly injured. The Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) has started from the 'Safety on the railway' program with extra attention for the safety management system and the safety culture in the rail sector. This is stated in the annual report on railway safety in 2019.

To consider

In 2019, 42 level crossings were removed and no new level crossings were constructed. This reduced the number of level crossings by 2% in one year. The Dutch main railway network still has 2427 level crossings, of which 724 are unguarded. Further reduction of the number of level crossings will reduce the risk of fatal accidents.

More STS passages

In 2019, a railway vehicle passed a stop-showing signal, called an STS passage, 142 times without permission. That is more often than the year before. In 34 cases (24%), the rail vehicle not only passes the signal, but also the danger point behind where there is a risk of a collision. There are slightly more of these endangering STS passages in 2019 than in 2018 (with 137 STS passages). From 2018, train traffic on shunting yards will be directed remotely from the traffic control post. Previously, a process manager did this on site. Since then, the number of passes of an STS passage has risen sharply at marshalling yards. The ILT notes that the new method contributes to an increase in these STS passages.

Work accidents

In 2019, no employees will be seriously injured by a moving railway vehicle. There have been 2 collisions with track workers, but this does not cause any injuries. However, there are 2 seriously injured and 4 slightly injured by electrification. This occurs a total of 9 times, the highest number since it was registered in 2010.

Safety culture

At the end of last year, the ILT organized a meeting on safety culture in the presence of the European Railway Agency ERA. No fewer than 24 railway companies sign the ERA 'Safety Declaration'. The rail sector sees added value in the exchange of information and knowledge. Safety culture is an important theme for the ILT, which it is working on with the 'Rail Safety' program. The inspectorate continues to discuss safety with all rail companies. This reports the inspection of living environment and transport through this message on their website.

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