UIC has published its annual report on significant railway accidents.
Scope
In 2025, 33 infrastructure managers across Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America provided safety related data to the UIC Safety Database, with 20 of these companies also participating in additional data collection for the “Focus study on Animals on Tracks” for the period from 2019 to 2024. For the complete report and more in-depth information, please use the links provided to access the full interactive digital versions.
UIC Safety Public Report UIC Safety Report Focus 2025
Rising trend in significant accidents
The number of significant accidents has shown a steady increase over the five-year period, going from 1,660 in 2020 to 2,018 in 2024. Overall, this represents a 21.5% increase over the five-year period, indicating a consistent upward trend in accidents.
Decline in accidents with consequences on humans
After reaching a peak in 2022-2023, accidents with consequences on humans declined in 2024. This suggests that while accidents are increasing overall, their severity in terms of human impact may be falling. Overall, while accidents have generally continued to increase, the number of victims stabilised or decreased slightly after 2022.
Level crossing accidents on the rise
Level crossing accidents increased by 16% in 2024 compared to 2023, reversing the previous downward trend. This rise, particularly at active crossings, highlights the need for renewed investment in level crossing safety, including public awareness, enforcement, and technology-based solutions.
While some safety indicators show encouraging trends – notably the reduction in fatalities and consequences on humans – the total number of significant accidents continues to rise, reaching a five-year high in 2024. The increase in level crossing accidents and traffic-disrupting events, along with persistent staff casualties, highlight that railway safety remains a critical and evolving challenge. Sustained efforts in prevention, data quality, and targeted interventions are essential to reversing the upward end in accidents and ensuring safer, more resilient railway operations.
Focus 2025: Animals on tracks
This year's focus study examines animal presence on railway infrastructure, encompassing both wildlife sightings and collision events with animals.
The analysis incorporates:
- Temporal patterns (seasonal variations, weekly trends, and lighting conditions)
- Characteristics of the infrastructure where the incident or accident took place
- Species-specific analysis
- Operational consequences of these encounters
The five-year trend shows a consistent reduction in wildlife-related events from 2021 to 2024, with the ratio of events per train-kilometre decreasing from 5.09 to 4.32 in this period. This improvement suggests that mitigation measures implemented by these networks may be yielding positive results.
The focus study incorporates an advanced “drill-through” functionality that provides detailed species-specific analysis, given here with a comprehensive example using data on deer (Roe, Fallow, Red, and Reindeer). This interactive dashboard presents a multidimensional view of wildlife-rail interactions with 6,063 documented deer encounters.
Members of UIC’s Safety Database in 2025
Spanish Railway Infrastructure Manager (ADIF), National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK), Norwegian National Rail Administration (Bane NOR SF), Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon Railway (BLS), Canadian National Railway, Luxembourg National Railway Company (CFL), Romanian Railways (CFR-SA), Irish Rail (CIE), German Railways (DB AG), Basque Railway Company (EUSKOTREN), Catalan Government Railways (FGC), Italian Railway Network (FS RFI), Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency (FTIA), Croatian Railways Infrastructure (HŽ Infrastruktura), National Railway Company of Belgium (Infrabel), Railways of Kosovo (INFRAKOS), Railway Infrastructure Manager of Portugal (IP), Latvian Railways (LDZ), Lithuanian Railways (LTG), Hungarian State Railways (MÁV), Network Rail, National Railway Infrastructure Manager of Bulgaria (NRIC), Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE), Polish State Railways (PKP), Dutch Railways Infrastructure Manager (ProRail), Islamic Republic of Iran Railways (RAI), National Railways of France Network (SNCF Réseau), Slovenian Railways (SŽ), National Railway Infrastructure Manager of Czech Republic (SŽ), Turkish State Railways (TCDD), Swedish Transport Administration (Trafikverket), Railways of the Slovak Republic (ŽSR)
Definitions
Train-km: Unit of measurement representing the movement of a train over one kilometre. The total train-km is the basic measurement for rail traffic.
Significant accident: Any accident involving at least one rail vehicle in motion, resulting in at least one person killed or seriously injured, or in significant damage to stock, track, other installations or the environment, or extensive disruptions to traffic. Accidents in workshops, warehouses and depots are excluded.
Victims: Fatalities and serious injuries.
Person killed: Any person killed immediately or dying within 30 days as a result of an injury accident, excluding suicides.
Person seriously injured: Any person injured who was hospitalised for more than 24 hours as a result of an accident, excluding attempted suicides.
Indicators: Absolute numbers divided by the total number of train-km.
Access to the document
The UIC 2025 report on safety can be downloaded at: https://shop.uic.org/en/