Briefing: Galton on UK railway accidents Available to Purchase

Captain Galton's 1862 paper identifies that 116 passengers were killed or injured in UK train accidents between 1854 and 1860, compared with only six passenger fatalities in the most recent comparable period today (2004–2010). When the number of passenger journeys is taken into account (163 435 678 per year in 1860 and 1·4 billion per year in 2010), it may be concluded that British railways today are approximately 170 times safer. Galton provides a detailed analysis of the cause of 534 train accidents that were reported upon by the Board of Trade inspectors. He established that many accidents were due to multiple causes and were preventable in the majority of cases. He found that although there were instances where the cause of the accident was attributable to negligence of railway staff, the main causes were inappropriate methods of working and ineffective management. Galton's recommendations for a safe railway involving greater cooperation between railway companies, the sharing of good practice and learning from accidents are now the reality in today's railways.