Serious unintentional injury involving a railway train or tram, Australia, 2009–10 to 2013–14

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Release Date: 19 Apr 2017

Topic: Injury

Media release

AIHW

AIHW: Henley & Harrison JE (2017) Serious unintentional injury involving a railway train or tram, Australia, 2009–10 to 2013–14, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 20 April 2024.

APA

AIHW: Henley & Harrison JE. (2017). Serious unintentional injury involving a railway train or tram, Australia, 2009–10 to 2013–14. Canberra: AIHW.

MLA

AIHW: Henley & Harrison JE. Serious unintentional injury involving a railway train or tram, Australia, 2009–10 to 2013–14. AIHW, 2017.

Vancouver

AIHW: Henley & Harrison JE. Serious unintentional injury involving a railway train or tram, Australia, 2009–10 to 2013–14. Canberra: AIHW; 2017.

Harvard

AIHW: Henley & Harrison JE 2017, Serious unintentional injury involving a railway train or tram, Australia, 2009–10 to 2013–14, AIHW, Canberra.

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This report presents information on hospitalisations in Australia due to unintentional serious injury involving a train or tram for the 5-year period from 2009–10 to 2013–14. Over this 5-year period, there were 812 cases of serious injury involving a train (178 due to a level crossing collision), an average of 162 per year. Over the same period, there were 397 cases of serious injury involving a tram.

ISSN: 2205-510X (PDF) 1444-3791 (Print)
ISBN: 978-1-76054-100-2
Cat. no: INJCAT 177
Pages: 41

Findings from this report:

There were 812 cases of serious unintentional injury involving a train, an average of about 160 per year
Of the 812 cases of injury involving a train, 178 people were seriously injured due to a level crossing collision
Occupants of trains made up 71% of all injury cases, with most occurring while boarding or alighting the train
There were 397 cases of serious unintentional injury involving a tram, an average of 80 per year

Summary

This report presents information on cases of serious unintentional injury involving a railway train or tram for the 5-year period from 2009–10 to 2013–14. It includes all injuries that were serious enough to require hospitalisation but did not result in death.

Serious unintentional injury involving a railway train

In the 5-year period, there were 812 cases of serious unintentional injury in Australia involving a train, an average of 162 per year. Victoria (37%), New South Wales (36%) and Queensland (14%) accounted for almost 88% of these cases.

Age-standardised rates of serious injury involving a train declined by an annual average of 3.7% over the 12-year period from 2002–03 to 2013–14.

In the 5-year period, age-specific serious injury rates tended to be higher for those aged 70 and over, for both sexes.

Occupants of trains made up 71% of all serious injury cases involving a train, with the most common circumstance of injury in the 5-year period being injury while boarding or alighting (24%).

Serious unintentional injury due to level crossing collisions

Of the 812 cases of serious unintentional injury in Australia involving a train, 178 people were seriously injured due to a level crossing collision, an average of 36 per year. Victoria accounted for just over half (51%) of serious injury cases related to level crossing collisions, followed by Queensland (16%) and New South Wales (14%).

Age-standardised rates of serious injury due to level crossing collisions declined by an annual average of 6% over the 12-year period from 2002–03 to 2013–14.

In the 5-year period, serious injury rates were highest among young adults (aged 20–24).

The most common circumstances of injury involved pedestrians injured in a collision with a train (42%) and car occupants injured in a collision with a train (39%).

Serious unintentional injury involving a tram

In the 5-year period, there were 397 cases of serious unintentional injury in Australia involving a tram, an average of 80 per year. Victoria (83%), New South Wales (6%) and Queensland (5%) accounted for over 94% of these cases.

Age-standardised rates of serious injury involving a tram declined by an annual average of 2.7% over the 12-year period from 2002–03 to 2013–14.

In the 5-year period, the most common circumstances of unintentional injury involving trams were injury while boarding or alighting (42%) and injury due to a fall in a tram (40%).

Those aged 65 and over accounted for almost 64% of those seriously injured while boarding and alighting from a tram, and for over 68% of those seriously injured due to a fall in a tram.