Summary of Mileage and Traffic of Roads on which ONLY ONE Passenger was Killed in a Train Accident During the Year 1909.
1909
Number of operating companies10
Mileage of these companies27,681
Passengers carried185,447,507
Passengers carried 1 mile5,778,621,000
Tons of freight carried213,086,612
Tons of freight carried 1 mile40,177,881,000
Passengers killed in train accidents10
Passengers injured in train accidents778

These figures show a mileage of 4,481 miles greater than all the railways of the United Kingdom, approximately one-half the passenger mileage, and over three times the ton mileage, with only 10 passengers killed in train accidents, to an average of 20 on British railways during the past ten years.

Further analysis of the returns to the Bureau, since data along this line has been compiled, affords the following statement of the number of roads and their mileage that have records of entire immunity from fatalities to passengers in train accidents of from one up to six years:

Statement Showing Number of Railways and Mileage on Which No Passenger Has Been Killed in a Train Accident, 1904 to 1909.
Number of CompaniesMiles of Line
Six consecutive years,1904-1909179,641
Five""1905-19099544,894
Four""1906-190917757,331
Three""1907-190922869,713
Two""1908-1909287108,710
One year, 1909347159,657

Gratifying and remarkable as was the immunity from fatalities of the class under consideration in 1909, the fact that for a period of five years 95 American roads with a mileage practically double that of all British railways have carried hundreds of millions of passengers without a fatality to one of them is so at variance with the popular impression regarding the dangers of American railway travel as to seem little short of marvelous.

The impressive character of this showing will be better appreciated when it is understood that the immunity from fatalities in train accidents represents consecutive years counting back from 1909. No road has been admitted to the list where the immunity has been interrupted by a single accident. With this fact in mind, the clean slate of the 17 roads for six years challenges admiration, especially as the Bureau's reports in 1904 covered less than two-fifths of the operated mileage of the United States.

Railway Accidents in 1909.

Having thus shown the gratifying immunity from fatalities to passengers in train accidents during the year 1909, and on 9,641 miles of line since 1904, it remains to present the reverse side of the picture, which is so invariably thrust forward in official documents. Accident Bulletin No. 32 of the Interstate Commerce Commission furnishes the following data as to the number killed and injured on the railroads of the United States during the last two fiscal years:

Summary of Casualties to Persons in Railway Accidents for the Years Ending June 30, 1909 and 1908.
Class of Accident19091908
PassengersEmployesPassengersEmployes
KilledInjuredKilledInjuredKilledInjuredKilledInjured
Collisions943,0332482,3621114,2843033,428
Derailments372,7172271,448543,0572602,065
Miscellaneous train accidents, including locomotive boiler explosions—115451,067—89791,325
Total train accidents1315,8655204,8771657,4306426,818
Coupling or uncoupling——1612,353——2393,121
While doing other work about trains or while attending switches——9314,315——20615,991
Coming in contact with overhead bridges, structures at side of track, etc236761,2294371101,353
Falling from cars or engines or while getting on or off1373,07648110,2591592,50166811,735
Other causes653,1391,12518,771782,6771,49317,326
Total (other than train accidents)2046,2511,93646,9272415,2152,71649,526
Total (all classes)33512,1162,45651,80440612,6453,35856,344
Totals in 1907:
In train accidents4109,0701,0118,924————
In other than train accidents2374,5273,34253,765————
All classes of accidents64713,5974,35362,689————