BRITISH RAILWAYS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5032, 27 September 1926, Page 1

BRITISH RAILWAYS.

ONE DEATH ONLY IN YEAR.

OVER 1,700,000,000 PASSENGERS.

Only one passenger lost Ills, life as a result off a railway accident in Great Britain las.t year. He was not killed outright, but died from shock due to his weak state of health. According to the rules governing official statis.tics, however, he had tof be reported as killed in accident, thus preventing 1925 from'figuring in the same category as 1908 and 1901, when not u, single, passenger met death in an accident on the British railways. The only recent year when a large number of persons were killed in a British railway accident was in 1915, when 224 lives were lost in a disaster to a trodp trajn. Aside from that a century of British railroading shows astonishingly few fatalities. The'worst years were 1903, with twenty-five killed; 1906, with fiftythree ; 1910, with twenty-three ; and 1913, witlf thirty-three. The best records besides those already mentioned were 1909, with one fatality ; 1914, with sixand 1916, 1919, and 1923, with three each. ■

This remarkable record was achieved despite the fact that more tnan 1,700, 000,000 passengers travel yearly oh British trains, which involves running 262,000,000 passenger-train, miles. In fact, as. the railway companies proudly point out, the record me,ans that passengers’ risk of meeting death while on their trains is well.,nigh negligible.

Asked how such a record was achieved, a railway official replied that it was due to the caretful way the traffic was operated, the larger number of safety appliances, and the excellent signalling system. TRAVELLING BY AIRPLANE. Travelling by airplane apparently is not nearly as dangerous as. is .commonly thought. The annual report of Civil Aviation states that since 1919 air transport flying has. amounted to 4,563,00'0 miles and there haye been only four accidents, causing the death of passengers. Duiriig the year ended March there were only five accidents and not one had serious consequences beyond damage to aircraft. Passengers in Briitsh machines increased from 13,478 in 1924 to 14,675. Flying for hire or "joy-ride” flying showed a big increase, the number of passengers in this branch of aviation being 67,329, the largest on record.